Loose Change
by TheGoldWillStay
Summary: Ophelia wanted to keep that night a secret. She needed it to be secret. But then she gets a box of tapes, exposing everything she thought she could hide. The worst part? The only people who hear the tapes are the people she was trying to hide them from. Montgomery/OC/Zach
1. Prologue

Someone had glued tacks to the bottom of her shoes. They must have. Because every step she took into that school caused her to feel sharp pain, pains she had never imagined before.

She hadn't even seen any of them yet, but she already felt like she had been stabbed in the heart by a knife. A knife that no doubt would be their cruel words. She had heard the evil things Bryce had done, and Justin. But besides them, she knew that she had been one of the worst.

Alex would probably be the first one to confront her. After all, he seemed to have cared about Hannah the most. At least, it seemed that way from the tapes. She thanked God himself that Clay hadn't received the tapes yet. As far as she knew, Sheri would be getting them any day now. Depending how fast her package traveled.

She had already taken three weeks off school, and she wouldn't be able to convince her parents to let her miss any more.

So she entered the high school that day. For the first time since Hannah killed herself. For the first time since she left him. And for the first time since she had made that terrible, terrible mistake.

So she walked through the school. Cautious and scared.

"Ophelia."

She froze in step as she heard her name being called. She didn't bother turning around. And apparently she didn't need to. The person who called her name walked in front of her, now standing in her view.

Jessica Davis. She looked heartbroken, or devastated, whatever you feel when a former friend kills themself.

"We need to talk" she said.

"I need to go to the office" Ophelia said quickly. "I need to-to get my make up work."

Jessica ignored her. "Was it true what she said? About Monty? About Rep Night?"

Ophelia swallowed. "Is what she about Bryce true? About the party?"

Jessica took a deep breath. "Of course not."

Ophelia nodded. "Same here."

Ophelia strides forward. Jessica caught her by the arm. "The others want to talk to you too."

"The others?"

"Everyone who's listened so far."

"I have nothing to talk about."

"Regardless of how it happened, your boyfriend still did what he did to her. Two days before she killed herself. If he gets caught, this lawsuit will swallow all of us."

Ophelia muttered something under her breath.

Jessica asked. "What was that?"

"Ex" she clarified, "My ex-boyfriend."

She pulled her arm away, and continued her strides.

"You need help" Jessica called after her. "Let me help you."

Ophelia just shut her eyes tightly, and marched on.


	2. Chapter 1

The day Ophelia met Hannah Baker was two days after the Alex Standall's list was spread around the school.

It was at the movie theater, not at school. Which makes sense, because Ophelia couldn't see herself ever holding a conversation with the the Hannah Baker the rumors had told her about. But at the movie theater, that was where the real Hannah was.

Ophelia could remember the crisp conversation like it had just happened.

 _Walking up to the concession counter, Ophelia could feel herself slow in step. Clay Jensen was here. She wouldn't have come if she had known that. She specifically came here because she thought she wouldn't have to worry about anyone from school seeing her._

 _She considered walking back into the theater, but Clay had already seen her, and it would be too awkward if she went back now._

 _So she stood at the concession stand._

 _"Hi" she said, awkwardly._

 _"Ophelia Tristano" Clay greeted in a friendly voice, "What can I get for you?"_

 _"Two regular sodas, please." She added, "And a large popcorn."_

 _"Coming right up. What flavors?"_

 _"Coke and Diet Coke."_

 _Clay took a step to the popcorn machine. "Hannah, we need two regular sodas. Coke and Diet."_

 _Hannah Baker appeared from behind the candy dispenser. "You got it."_

 _Ophelia but her lip. Two people from school. How could she manage to find a theater with two people from school working there? Clay Jensen and Hannah Baker of all people._

 _Hannah set the drinks in front of her._

 _"Ophelia, right?"_

 _She nodded._

 _"You're in my English" Hannah stated. "I've seen you around too."_

 _"Yeah" Ophelia agreed, "I've seen you too."_

 _"So who you here with?" she asked boldly._

 _She said, "Just my boyfriend."_

 _Hannah nodded, but looked eager for more. A cheery smile appeared on her face as she asked, "Who is...?"_

 _"He goes to our school" Ophelia said, "But I'm not sure if you know him."_

 _Hannah leaned back with humorous suspicious. "Mystery guy, huh? It's cool, I don't gotta know. Not now, at least. But trust me when I say I'll be noticing which guys your talking to at school."_

 _Ophelia chuckled at this. "I'll watch out for you."_

 _"You'll never see me coming" Hannah said, "I've seen at least five movies involving spies so...I'm pretty much an expert at being one."_

 _Ophelia laughed again. "If you say so."_

 _Clay pushed the popcorn down the counter her way._

 _"How much I owe you?" she asked._

 _Hannah shook her head, "Relax, girl. We got you."_

 _She was surprised. "Really?"_

 _"Of course. Us Liberty Highers gotta stick together, right?"_

 _"Right."_

 _Clay added, "Right."_

 _Hannah laughed._

A part of Ophelia is glad that the tapes came out. If they didn't, she might spend the rest of her life wondering how Hannah could have killed herself. How that happy, bubbly girl at the movie theater possibly could have killed herself.

She wondered if that meant she might one day end up in that position.

No. If she was going to be pushed over the edge, it would have already happened. She survived through that night intact and emotionally able. If anything, that would have brought her down.

Now, as she steps into first period for the first time in three weeks, she hoped that strength would help her now.

"Ms. Tristano" Mrs. Jangle, her science teacher greeted, "we're so glad to have you back. Are you feeling better?"

Ophelia gave a curt nod. She walked towards the back of her classroom, to her usual seat next to the window. She paused in step. Zachary Dempsey sat next to her. At the beginning of the year she was glad, he was cute, and so smart at this subject.

But right now she would rather be sat next to Jessica Davis. Even if it landed her another attempt at a lecture.

Ophelia sat down, and was barely in her seat when Zach turned to her.

"Ophelia, hey. How have you been?" he asked on a hesitant voice.

She had already braced herself for this. For the pity she would receive, and the sympathetic gestures others would show towards her to make her feel less pathetic than she knew she was. She had been bracing herself since she heard the tapes and realized that her deepest darkest secrets had been being passed around without her knowledge.

She bit her lip. "Fine, Zach."

He cleared his throat. "I've been, uh, I've been saving the classwork you missed. Only the last two weeks thought. Not the first one, I didn't know how long you'd be gone."

He handed her a stack of papers. They were his grades and returned assignments. All she had to do now was copy them.

And she knew the real reason he didn't collect her work the first week. He hadn't listened to the tapes yet. He didn't feel sorry for her yet.

"Thanks" she got out.

"Listen, Ophelia, if you ever...If you ever need to talk-"

"I'm good" she cut him off. Looking at him she said, "You don't have to pretend to be my friend."

His face dropped. His eyebrows knitted together in confused understanding. "I am your friend, Ophelia."

She shook her head.

"I only had one friend. And she's dead now."

Her eyes focused on the empty seat in front of her. A wave of grief passed over her heart. She had been one of the reasons her only friend decided to kill herself.

She took in a deep, shaky breath. She felt a hand on her arm. Turning, she saw Zach staring at her. Silently staring at her with a look she dreaded receiving.

A look that masked sorrow, but beneath was filled with disgust and accusations of stupidity.

He said, "I-"

"Get your fucking hands off her, Dempsey."

Ophelia flinched, and shook the boy's hand off her.

Montgomery entered the classroom anger. "The hell you trying to do, man?"

"Mr. De La Cruz, please take your seat" the teacher requested.

Zach defended, "Chill man, we were just talking."

"Well don't" Montgomery snapped. He turned to Ophelia. Her gaze was fasted away from him. She felt a shiver down her spine as he took a step closer. His scent infiltrated her nose.

"We need to talk" he told her.

Slowly, she shook her head. "I already told you everything you needed to hear."

"In a fucking text message?" he snapped. His voice began rising. "You break up with me in a text message, won't let me see you, and then disappear for _three fucking weeks_?"

Tension in the classroom was rising, and she knew full well that everyone occupying the room was looking at the two of them. She met Justin's eyes. He just shook his head and looked away. Courtney shared the class with them also. She didn't even make eye contact, pretending she was writing something down.

After listening to her tape, Ophelia doubted she'd ever get much help from Courtney.

"Dude, leave her alone."

Ophelia's head snapped towards Zach. After listening to the tapes through and through, he still thought talking back to Montgomery was a good idea?

"Stay _the fuck_ out of this" Montgomery spoke calmly.

"Mr. De La Cruz!" the teacher shouted.

He ignored all of them, looking back to Ophelia. "Three minutes. I deserve at least three minutes after three fucking weeks."

"Mr. De La Cruz, if you are not in your seat when the bell rings you will be marked late."

"Fuck off!" he yelled.

Mrs. Jangle gasped. Ophelia was sure she was going to say more, but she didn't, she just stood there flabbergasted.

Montgomery reached down, grabbing my arm, and pulled me out of the desk. "Let's go."

"Let go!" Ophelia shouted at him.

She felt her cheeks reddening in embarrassment. Especially as she could see Zach out of the corner of her eye. His face scrunching up, suddenly realizing that everything he heard was true, and everything suddenly adding together for him.

Zach's figure suddenly shot up. "Let her go!"

Montgomery dropped her arm and shoved an accusing finger towards him. "Mind your business!"

"Boys!" Mrs. Jangle suddenly screamed.

Ophelia watched Courtney turn around in her seat to face them.

"Just go talk to him" Courtney snapped at her.

Ophelia didn't know if it was Montgomery's yelling, Courtney's comment, or the embarrassment she was feeling that made her willpower suddenly crumple. She found herself marching out of the classroom before she even realized what was happening.

Montgomery was hot on her tail.

When she finally reached the lockers she turned to him saying, "You have three minutes."

Montgomery set his arm against the locker, leaning against it so that he could lean in closer to her. He stood almost towering over her.

"What. Happened."

She almost rolled her eyes. "What are you taking about?"

"What am I...What am I talking about?" He leaned a little closer. "You _fucking_ broke up with me after two fucking years. For what? Because some girl you barely knew slit her wrists? You wouldn't answer my calls, you wouldn't tell me-"

"Her name was Hannah" she interrupted him. "Hannah Baker split her wrists. And she wasn't just some girl, she was my friend, Montgomery."

"She was a fucking nutcase."

Ophelia finally turned to him. By now her eyes stung red, and she felt her throat burning. "It was because of us" she whispered, trying to keep the cracks out of her voice.

Montgomery scoffed. "Bullshit."

Ophelia was the one to take a step closer this time. She wanted him to hear her low voice as loudly as possible.

"Two days, Monty. She killed herself two days after."

He brought a hand up to her face, wiping off the single tear that had fallen. She hated the way she formed to his touch. And she hated that she became so vulnerable around him. She pulled her face from his touch.

"She deserved what we did" he said, "After what she did to you and me she should be glad that that's all that happened."

"But if we hadn't-"

"We don't know that's why" he told her.

"Yes, I do" she said, looking him straight in the eye. "If it hadn't been for Rep night, she would be alive. I know that."

"Ophelia-"

"I can't-I can't be with you" she said, stepping away. "Not after what happened."

"I'm not letting you throw away why we have for that girl."

"I don't want to be with you" she told him. She saw him flinch.

"That's not your decision to make-"

"Mr. De La Cruz!"

They both turned to see the principal, followed by Mr. Porter, walking their way.

"Do you mind coming with me Mr. De La Cruz, we've heard there was an incident in Mrs. Jangles's class."

Montgomery scoffed. "Yeah, people don't know how to mind their own fucking business."

"We can either do this the easy way or the hard way Mr. De La Cruz. One is detention, the other is suspension."

Montgomery rolled his eyes, then pushed himself off the lockers. "This isn't over."

Ophelia spoke, "Yes, it is."

Montgomery and the principal started walking towards his office, but Mr. Porter remained.

"Mrs. Tristano" he spoke, "May I have a word with you in my office."

She almost laughed. After hearing his tape, she was never able to look at him seriously again.

"About what?"

"Just a moment, please."

She prayed that this would be the last time Montgomery got her called to the office.


	3. Chapter 2

_"Hey, I think I've figured it out."_

 _Ophelia turned, and was surprised to see Hannah Baker standing behind her._

 _She blinked. "What?"_

 _"Your mystery guy, I think I figured out who it is."_

 _With an amused smile she said, "Okay, go ahead. Tell me."_

 _"Zach Dempsey."_

 _Ophelia almost choked. She turned her head, making sure Zach, nor Montgomery were there. It would be embarrassing if either of them overheard the conversation. And Montgomery would definitely freak out about it, assuming she was flirting behind his back._

 _"No" she said, turning back to Hannah, "It is definitely not Zach Dempsey."_

 _"Oh, come on" Hannah said. "You two have so much in common. You both have a little sister, you both are so good at science, you talk so much in class and he's always making you laugh. And, ya know, you're both..."_

 _Ophelia chuckled, "Asian?"_

 _"I didn't mean it like that. I just meant you guys are both in ACC, right?"_

 _"No, I dropped that a while ago."_

 _Hannah frowned. "Why?"_

 _"It took up too much time."_

 _'_ At least, that's what Montgomery thought _.'_

 _Hannah sighed. "Fine. It's not Zach Dempsey. Give me a hint though. Is he like Zach?"_

 _Ophelia chuckled. "Pretty much the opposite of Zach."_

 _"Huh" Hannah says._

 _"What?"_

 _"That basically means he's the opposite of you" she pointed out._

 _Ophelia thought for a moment. "...I guess you're right. Look at that. You're figuring out more stuff about my boyfriend than I have."_

 _Hannah laughed._

"It's good to see you've returned to school" Mr. Porter began. "Are you feeling better?"

"No" she said truthfully.

Mr. Porter nodded, silently. "I can understand that. You and Hannah were close, correct?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. We had a couple classes together."

"And also a few sleepovers, correct?"

Ophelia blinked. "What?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Baker have been in here a lot the past few weeks. They've asked about you."

Ophelia hesitated. "A-Asked about me? Why?"

"They're filing a lawsuit against the school, and they've been trying to piece some things together about what happened, and what could have caused it."

Ophelia felt her blood run cold. If they were investigating this, what would happen if they found the tapes. Would she get charged? No. Bryce did something far worse than she ever did. Right?

Mr. Porter continued. "I hear that you spent the night at her house four days prior to...the day she died." He paused for a moment. "Is there anything you'd like to share about what happened that night?"

She dug her fingers into the chair. She could feel one of them crack at the end. She wondered if he could see how nervous she was. Definitely. She held her breath.

"No."

Mr. Porter looked unconvinced. "You do realize you will most likely be called to testify in court, correct?"

She felt the breath taken from her lungs.

"Are you sure you have nothing to tell me?"

Wordlessly, she nodded.

"Hm." He muttered. "I do have a few more questions before you leave. Unrelated to Hannah Baker."

Ophelia released her grip on the chair. He was letting her go so easy. Maybe if he wasn't so easy, Hannah would still be alive.

"You and Mr. De La Cruz are in a relationship, correct?"

Her grip returned.

"Yes."

"Montgomery has a temper" he began. "The staff here knows that. I'm still fairly new here, and even I know that."

She wondered where he was going with this.

"Ms. Tristano, have you ever seen this temper firsthand?"

She gulped. "I thought you said this wasn't about Hannah."

"It wasn't meant to be" he said simply. "And yet, you instantly thought of her when I said it."

The bell rang above them, but Ophelia barely heard it.

Mr. Porter stood. "You can go now, Ophelia. I wouldn't want to make you late for your next class."

Ophelia stood, and didn't bother making eye contact before rushing out. Her nails were digging into the palm of her hands. A nervous habit she had when she was trying to keep something in. But this...this would take more than a nervous habit to calm her down.

Montgomery didn't share any more classes with her until after lunch. She dreaded the conversation they would have then.

She tried to keep to herself that day. But she gained attention because of her long absence, especially from those who listened to the tapes.

Unlike Zach and Jessica, the others didn't try to talk her. She caught them looking at her, but she thanked god they didn't talk to her.

At least, not during class. As soon as the bell rang for lunch, everyone and everything seemed to reign down on her.

It began with entering the cafeteria. She couldn't take her old seat at the jock table. She would be surrounded by tape listeners and exes she didn't want to be around. Not to mention Bryce Walker.

So she sat by herself at an empty table. At least, she tried to. She was surprised when Tony Padilla was the one to sit across from her.

"Hey" he said, casually.

"Hey..."

A pause. "How you been doin', Ophelia?"

"I'm fine" she told him. She had a feeling she'd be saying that a lot lately.

"Good" he breathed, "good..."

There was an awkwardness between them.

She waited only a moment before asking, "What do you want, Tony?"

He answered, "I just want to make sure you're all right."

"I _just_ told you I was fine."

"I don't believe you."

Ophelia scoffed.

Tony continued, "I don't believe you because you've lied to me about that before."

Ophelia looked away. "I just want to eat in peace" she said quietly.

Tony took a breath. "Look, I saw you talking to Montgomery earlier. I just...I just want you to know that I'm here for you. You don't have to go through this alone. You can call me, anytime, day or night. I'll be there."

Ophelia lowered her voice, and spoke in an angry tone. "I _don't_ need you. There is nothing wrong with me. Hannah lied in those tapes. Montgomery was there for me when no one else was."

Tony shook his head, unbelieving. "I'm sorry, Ophelia. I'm sorry he had to be the one you had to turn to. I'm sorry I wasn't there when you needed me-"

"Stop" she begged, "Please, just leave me alone."

Her eyes glanced up, and she spotted someone walking to her table.

"The fuck you think you're doing, Padilla?"

Tony didn't bother looking back to him. "Just talking, man."

"Yeah? Well find someone else to talk to" Montgomery snapped. "You're bothering my girlfriend."

Tony looked up to Ophelia. "Girlfriend, huh? Not that I'm interested, but I could've sworn Ophelia announced herself as a single lady."

"She's not. Move."

Tony asked Ophelia. "Are you and him together or not?"

Ophelia took a deep breath. "No." She looked to Montgomery. "And you should know that. I told you we're through."

Montgomery groaned. "For fucks sake, O."

Justin and Bryce walked up from behind him.

Bryce asked, "What's goin' on, Monty? Lady trouble?"

Montgomery clenched his jaw. "Ophelia's just being a real bitch, that's all."

Ophelia's mouth fell open, already forgetting what those harsh names felt like.

Tony stood now, turning to Montgomery. "You watch your mouth when speaking to a lady, verga."

Montgomery stood a little taller. "The fuck did you just say to me?" He looked angry now, like he was ready to use his fists to end this conversation.

The situation was escalating, and Ophelia was becoming more and more nervous.

"You gonna try to fight me?" Tony asked, "You gonna fight someone your own size for a change?"

Montgomery froze for a split second. "What?" He looked directly at me. "What?"

Ophelia gulped, fearing this would escalate farther, but to her surprise the situation was stopped quickly. Justin had come in between them.

"Let it go, Monty" Justin told him, "C'mon, Zach and them are waiting."

Montgomery looked straight at me. "Let's go, Ophelia."

I stayed planted in the seat, preparing to defend myself if he tried to forcibly remove me like he had earlier in class. But Justin was the one who came to my aide, again.

"Don't even worry about her, man" Justin said, "Let's go."

Montgomery scoffed. "Fine." He pointed a finger at her. "This conversation isn't over."

As they left, Justin glanced my way with what I could only guess was a sympathetic look.

Tony turned back to me. "Are you oka-"

"You shouldn't have done that" she said, beginning to gather her things.

Tony was confused. "Do what? _He_ was the one who come up looking to start trouble."

Ophelia snapped. "You shouldn't have said that. He thinks I told you what happened."

"Don't worry about him" Tony told her, "I'll deal with him."

"Don't" she said quickly. She flung her bag over her shoulder. "Just...don't."

Tony sighed. "I know it's never easy asking for help-"

Ophelia shook her head. "Help? If you wanted to help me, you never would've passed out those damn tapes."


	4. Chapter 3

_"Wait, wait, wait" Ophelia had to hold back her laughter, "You were the one who used to go to Monet's with Jessica and Alex?"_

 _"Yup" Hannah said, popping the 'p' at the end._

 _Ophelia laughed. "Oh, I feel so bad. I used to see them when they were together. They couldn't keep they're hands, or lips, to each other."_

 _Hannah chuckled. "They did seem really into each other." She mumbled, "Not that I had seen much of it."_

 _The two of them were seated in Communications class. They were talking idly, waiting for the bell to ring so they could leave. These chats were one of the sole reasons they moved from acquaintances to friends._

 _Hannah cleared her throat, "Speaking of couples, I would like to guess for a clue as to who your boyfriend might be."_

 _Ophelia rolled her eyes playfully. "You couldn't have given up already."_

 _"Not given up" she said quickly, "I just...need help."_

 _Ophelia chuckled. "Okay fine." She leaned forward, thinking. "He's...tall."_

 _Hannah tutted. "Every guy here is tall, aside from Tony, that doesn't help. Give me a hint on his name."_

 _"His name?" Ophelia thought. "Okay, I got one. His last name is foreign."_

 _Hannah nodded. "Foreign last name, got it. Anything else you're willing to spill?"_

 _Ophelia nodded. "His hair is hot."_

 _Hannah chuckled. "His hair is hot?"_

 _"Hot, hot hair."_

 _Hannah couldn't keep herself from laughing._

It took Sheri one night to listen to the tapes.

Ophelia was able to tell that she finished because of the way she acted the next day at school.

Sheri smiled at her in the hallway, something she hadn't done since they had their falling out. She didn't try talking to her, so she counted that as a win. Sheri wanted to ignore it and forget it happened. That was one thing the two of them had in common.

But Sheri finishing the tapes really only meant one thing to Ophelia. Clay would have them next. She knew what he would do. He'd try to 'help' her. He'd try to be 'supportive'. Ophelia rolled her eyes at the thought.

It was Friday already. She had already endured an entire week of 'support'. Montgomery had been the worst to avoid. She had blocked his number, and blocked him on all social media. He had even messaged her on Justin's instagram account.

'It's Monty. Let's talk.' She would never respond.

Usually, she was good at blending in, and not being the center of attention. But she wasn't as fortunate anymore. Especially as Clay walked into school that day sporting a pair of large headphones, drilling holes into the back of Justin's head.

He had just begun. And the others wanted to make sure he kept his mouth shut throughout his listening.

Which is why Justin had cornered her at his locker. Because of Clay.

"Jessica, Zach, and me are meeting up at Bryce's house. Alex is supposed to meet us there too. Do you need a ride?"

Ophelia stared at him, dumbfounded. "Excuse me?"

"Do you need a ride?" Justin repeated. "I heard your car was still in the shop."

She nodded slowly. "It is."

"So we can take you. Technically, Montgomery's driving, but it's okay because he probably won't stay long-"

"No" Ophelia said, "I'm not going."

She turned her attention to her locker, putting away her books and grabbing the binder she needed for homework that night.

She heard Justin sigh, "Look, you've been giving him the silent treatment for nearly a month. And now you're avoiding him. Isn't it time to, y'know, forgive and forget?"

Ophelia felt herself filling with rage. She gripped the palm of her hands tightly. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.

Hearing Justin, out of all people, say that seemed to hurt the most. He saw first hand the sins of Montgomery. And out of anyone, she would have thought he would understand.

But Ophelia didn't have the patience, or confidence to start a fight at that moment.

Instead, she just said, "Montgomery has nothing to do with it."

Justin scoffed now. "C'mon. Tell me you don't actually believe that bullshit about Bryce."

"I don't know what to believe" she told him, "Because she told the truth about me. And I know you don't keep the best of friends."

Justin frowned. He looked her over. "I thought you told Jessica that Hannah lied about what happened."

Ophelia spoke quietly, "Out of all people, you should know what was really going on."

Ophelia slammed her locker shut. She turned away from him, but he moved faster than her. He stepped in front of her, blocking her.

"What do you mean me of all people?" He spoke as though he was offended.

Softly she said, "You know exactly what I'm talking about."

She gripped the straps of her backpack, and marched on. She heard Justin mutter, "Bitch" before walking past her, and out the door.

She let out a deep breath. She was already regretting what she had said.

"Hey, so, uh, did Ophelia say anything about me?"

Justin rolled his eyes, keeping his full attention on the game in front of him. The controller in his hand vibrates as he gets hit by another player's bullet.

"What the fuck, Monty?" he exclaimed, "You're supposed to be guarding me."

Montgomery chuckled, "Did you just die?"

Justin's head snapped in his direction. "You think that's funny, huh?"

Montgomery just nodded, continuing to laugh. Until Justin reached over and clamped his hand down on the back of his neck in a harsh slap.

"Ow! What the fuck?" Montgomery yelled. He looked back up to the screen, but it was too late. His character had just died.

Montgomery threw the controller at Justin's head. He dodged it, and it landed on the floor with a sharp cracking noise.

"Aye, be careful with those!" Bryce yelled from the back of the pool house, "You break it, you buy it."

"Whatever" Justin said.

Zach and Marcus, who sat on the couch against the wall, only laughed at the ordeal.

"Damn, Monty. You got killed like a little bitch" Marcus teased.

"He fucking distracted me" Montgomery snapped. Reaching over, he slapped the controller out of Justin's hand.

"Oh, fuck you" Justin laughed.

Montgomery jumped off the couch, grabbing his controller and rejoining the game.

"You're dead, Justin."

Justin shook his head. "You know what Monty, I think Ophelia actually wanted to come over."

Montgomery looked his way, his face softening in hope. "Really?"

"Yeah. But then I told her you were here and she changed her mind."

Montgomery reached over, hitting Justin again, and then turned his full attention back on the game.

Zach and Marcus, who were sitting on the couch against the wall, laughed at them.

Bryce spoke up, "Where is Ophelia?"

"Didn't hear?" Marcus asked, "She dumped his sorry ass."

"Fuck you" Montgomery snapped.

Bryce laughed. "For real? You let _her_ break up with _you_? I thought you just took a break while she was crying and shit over suicide Hannah."

Montgomery ignored him. Zach shifted uncomfortably. Bryce took a long sip of beer, chuckling.

He then asked, "What about Jessica, where's she?"

Justin cleared his throat. "She didn't want to come. She had some stuff she needed to do."

"Watch out" Bryce teased, "Or you'll be the next one to be dumped."

"I wasn't fucking dumped" Montgomery suddenly snapped, standing to his feet. "We're just taking a fucking break."

"Woah, calm down" Marcus told him. The air in the room became tense.

But Bryce didn't seem to sense the sudden hostility, because he just kept talking.

"By 'taking a break' you mean she hasn't returned any if your calls?" Bryce asked.

Montgomery clenched his jaw. "She's just been busy."

"No, right. I believe you, I do. But I mean...what's got her so busy at nine o'clock on a Friday night?" Bryce patronized, "Other than, y'know..." Bryce trailed off as he began mimicking sexual moans.

"Knock it the fuck off!" Montgomery told him.

"Yeah man, cut it out" Justin said. He was watching Montgomery carefully, as were the others in the room.

"Stop Bryce, Ophelia would never do something like that" Zach put in.

Bryce's eyebrows rose in surprise as his eye sight centered on the younger football player.

"What do you know about it, Dempsey?"

Zach was shook as all eyes in the room turned to him, the game on the television long forgotten by now.

"S-She's just not that kind of girl" he said, stumbling over his words.

Montgomery glared at him. Bryce only laughed again. "Monty, it looks like you've already got some competition."

Montgomery tossed the controller onto the couch before storming to the door.

"Where the fuck are you going?" Justin yelled.

"Where do you think?" Montgomery snapped. He grabbed his keys off the rack near the door.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Zach called. Marcus sent him a weird look. He continued, "I mean-haven't you been drinking?"

"Fuck off!" Montgomery shouted before slamming the door behind him.

"What the fuck?" Zach said to Justin. "You think it's a good idea just to let him go like that?"

Bryce, oblivious to what they were really talking about said, "Calm the fuck down Zach, he only had one beer."

Marcus added, "He'll be fine. I'm sure Ophelia's parents are home. It's not like anything could happen."

"Exactly" Justin said, "so why don't you shut up and play this fucking game."

Zach stood, and walked over to the couch Justin was sitting at. Suddenly, he stopped. He shook his head.

"I'm going after him" he said. Zach rushed to the door.

"Jesus fucking Christ" Justin muttered, "What the fuck is wrong with him?"

Marcus shook his head. "Dumbass."


	5. Chapter 4

_Ophelia felt a harsh slap on her backside. She gasped, letting out a scream. She turned, shocked, only to find her boyfriend standing behind her with a smug smile._

 _"Hey, babe. You ready to go home?"_

 _Montgomery brought his car keys into her eyeline._

 _"What the hell? That hurt!"_

 _Montgomery stepped closer to her, grinning widely. "I'm sorry, do you want me to kiss it better?"_

 _Ophelia tried to ignore the feeling that smile gave her. Or the way his baseball jacket clung to his muscles. The jacket was unzipped, showing off his white t-shirt that was drenched in sweat from the PE class he just came from, which pressed against his body even more._

 _She stepped away from him. Instead saying, "Ew. You're sweaty and gross."_

 _A smirk appeared on his face. "Wanna help me wash off?"_

 _She laughed at him. "As if, Monty. You smell so bad you're lucky if I get in the same car as you."_

 _"You won't be laughing when you smell just as bad."_

 _Before she could ask him what he meant by that, he embraced her in a tight hug. Ophelia screamed. The sweat on his skin pressed against her._

 _"Ew! Ew, stop!" she screamed. Although, her words were lost in her own laughter._

 _"How about a kiss now?" he laughed._

 _"Monty!" She wasn't even able to say anything, laughter had taken over her entire body._

 _His lips found her neck. Her body shivered as he kissed her on her sensitive skin._

 _She looked up. And that's when she saw Hannah._

 _Hannah was walking their way, but hadn't seen them yet._

 _Ophelia elbowed Montgomery. "Let me go!"_

 _He took his hands away quickly, confused. "Wha-"_

 _Ophelia ducked down as fast as she could. She was completely hidden behind a car._

 _"The fuck-"_

 _Ophelia grabbed Montgomery's jacket, tugging on it._

 _"Come down!" she told him._

 _Confused, he ducked behind the car._

 _"What the fuck, Ophelia?"_

 _"Tell me when Hannah's gone" she instructed._

 _Montgomery snuck a glance through the windows of the car. "Hannah Baker?"_

 _Ophelia only nodded._

 _"Why are you hiding from her?" His expression turned hard. "Did she do something to you? I'll fuck her up. You know I will."_

 _"No, no, no" she cut him off quickly, "I don't want her to find out you're my boyfriend yet."_

 _This seemed to upset him even more. "Are you embarrassed by me now?"_

 _She scoffed. "Monty, why would you think that?"_

 _"What else am I supposed to think?" he demanded, his voice raising._

 _"Shh!"_

 _She checked again. Hannah was gone. She stood now, Montgomery hot on her tail._

 _"Is she trying to set you up with someone? And you're actually letting her?" He spoke with anger._

 _She rolled her eyes at his jealous behavior._

 _"Monty, Hannah's been trying to guess my boyfriend for the past two weeks now."_

 _His face now scrunched in confusion. "Why?"_

 _"It's just a game we have. She has to figure out who you are."_

 _He still looked beyond confused. She added, "It's good bonding."_

 _"Girls are so fucking weird."_

 _She shrugged her shoulders. "Can't say you're any different, Mr. I-get-in-fights-over-pizza."_

 _"You know it was my piece. Marcus took it off my fucking plate."_

 _"Okay" she said, unconvinced._

 _Montgomery looked in the direction Hannah was in. "She hasn't guessed me yet? Really?"_

 _Ophelia laughed, "I guess you don't seem the romantic type."_

 _"Who has she guessed?"_

 _Ophelia's face fell, and she began thinking of ways to change the subject. She could feel Hannah laughing at her in the back of her head._

His fist pounded on the door. The banging was as loud and as fast as his heartbeat. He didn't stop until she answered.

Ophelia pulled the door back, confused as to why someone was trying to knock her door down at almost ten o'clock at night. She was ever more confused to find Zach Dempsey.

"Zach?"

He had been so out of focus from the one beer he had drunken, that her voice seemed to be the only crystal clear thing in the world. It sounded so smooth to him, that he almost forgot why he was there. But her annoyed, "Hello?", snapped him right back into place.

He cleared his throat, trying to come up with what to say in response. Even though he wasn't really responding, just simply explaining himself.

"Is-Is Montgomery here?"

Her eyebrows formed an angry expression, but her voice spoke a calm one.

"Monty and I broke up, remember?" She strained herself. "Did he say otherwise?"

"No. Well, he did. He said you guys were taking a break" he tried to explain. His gaze shifted towards the street, watching for that familiar jeep.

Ophelia laughed half heartedly. "We're not taking a break. We're done. Permanently."

Zach nodded his head quickly. "I get that. I do. Especially after he-"

He stopped himself, realizing that was probably the last thing she wanted to hear that moment. The somber expression on his face only seemed to prove his point.

"Look" he tried again, "Montgomery said he was on his way over here, so I just came over to make sure nothing bad happened."

Her eyes widened. "Why is he coming here?"

"To...talk? I dunno." He rubbed his arms, the cold wind reminding him he left his jacket back at Bryce's place. "Can I please come inside?"

Ophelia stepped outside, shutting the door behind her. "Look, I think you should go."

He desperately searched for a reason she would let him stay. "Are your parents still awake? Our sisters are friends, and I think they wanted to talk to me about arranging another play date."

"I know they're friends, Zach" she told him, "but my parents aren't even home right now."

His eyes widened. "You're here alone?"

"No, my sister's upstairs. She's trying to sleep, so if you don't mind..." She gestured to his car.

He told her, "I can't go now. I need to stay in case Montgomery comes."

Her face softened. "I don't...He probably won't come. He knows he's unwelcome."

Zach doubted she really had that much faith in his sense of judgement.

"He's had a few drinks" he confessed to her, "If he comes over angry..."

Her shoulders slouched, and her expression was more worried. She pushed open the door behind her, and took a step inside.

"You can come in" she told him, "but only for a little bit. Just to see if he comes by."

He nodded. "Of course."

He took a quick step, stumbling into the house. He accidentally kicked the wall.

"Shh!" Ophelia hushed him, "Honor is sleeping."

She walked in front of him, leading him to the living room. Her house had white walls, and they were empty. Unlike his, which were filled with photographs. He could have sworn the last time he was at her house, during her last birthday party, she had more up.

"Where did your pictures go?" he asked. It wasn't until after he said it that he realized he probably shouldn't have been so blatant about it.

She didn't loose pace. Simply, she said, "I didn't like them up anymore."

He tried to remember what was in the photos. There were pictures of her, obviously. As well as her parents, and her younger sister, Honor. But other people were there too. Wasn't he in one? He couldn't remember. The beer he had must have been kicking in more.

That meant Montgomery's two beers were kicking in more too. Why was that dumbass driving? Why was _he_ driving?

"I shouldn't have drove" he said blatantly, again.

Ophelia let out a single laugh. "You got that right."

Finally, in what seemed like forever to Zach, they reached the living room. He fell onto her couch before she could say "make yourself at home".

She sighed, watching his nearly passed out figure. "I'll get you some water."

"Thanks" he mumbled.

She brought him a glass of ice water, setting it down at the table in front of him. But by the time she got back to him, he was already asleep, snoring loudly.

She sighed, plopping herself down on the seat next to him. Looking at him, she couldn't help but laugh to herself. He was such a lightweight. Then again, so was she. The difference was Ophelia hardly drank alcohol, while Zach drank it all the time, but was never able to keep it down.

She was startled by one loud, bang from her front porch. Louder than the ones Zach delivered only moments ago. She looked back at Zach, he was still asleep. Loud knocking came for the second time that night. Only this time, the banging was louder. Angrier.

"Ophelia!"

Her name was screamed from outside, and it carried through her house.

More banging. She heard metal clanking, like someone was turning her doorknob back and forth vigorously.

"Fucking come here! Ophelia!"

She looked back at Zach. He hadn't moved from his spot. She bet even the neighbors awoke from the yelling, yet he stayed perfectly still.

So much for protection...

Fearing her sister would wake, Ophelia rushed to the door. She hesitated before opening. She peeked though the peep hole. Montgomery stood with his head against the door, blocking most of her view.

"Ophelia!"

His voice vibrated the door. She could feel his muffled yells against her hands.

"Go away!" she tried.

His head perked up after hearing her voice. He jiggled the door handle more.

"Open the-the fucking door!" he slurred.

She gulped. In a rush of adrenaline, she threw the door open. Montgomery stood with a half-drunken beer in his hand. The stench of alcohol protruded off him. His eyes were glazed over.

"Ophelia..." he whispered.

He reached out to stroke her face, but she pulled her head back. She stepped out and closed the door behind her.

"You need to go" she demanded.

"Ophelia, please...please just talk to me..."

"I said go!"

She was surprised to hear him sniff, and wipe his nose, like he had been crying. Montgomery didn't cry. Not in front of her.

"I just want to talk to you" he said, speaking in a cracked voice. Emotion was spilling from him.

"We have nothing to talk about-"

"We do! We fucking do!"

She took a step forward, putting her hand on his chest to calm him down. But as soon as she made contact with him, he pulled her into a tight hug. She gasped, unable to bring herself out of it.

"I'm sorry" he told her. His voice was cracking now. "I'm so fucking sorry. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"Montgomery, you need to let go-"

He pulled back from her. Taking a stumbled step away. She was surprised at how obedient he was to her command.

Then she saw it. The tear streaming out of his left eye, and the pools of water hanging under both of them. He really was crying. She couldn't believe it.

"What can I do to make things better?" he asked. "Just tell me what the fuck you want me to do."

"You can't do anything" she told him, shaking her head, "You can't undo what you did."

"I did it for you!" he cried.

She took a step back. "Monty..."

"I don't regret it" he confessed. His words were slurred and blotchy. His voice was cracking. "She hurt you, Ophelia. She _hurt_ you."

Ophelia felt a sharp pang in her chest. She couldn't bare to think of Hannah, not right now.

"Don't, Monty. Just don't."

"She fucking hurt you! I would do it all over again if I could! What she did to you-to _us_ -how could you be on her side?"

"Because she was my friend!" Ophelia screamed at him. "And what you did will _never_ be okay."

He scoffed, "Your friend?"

"Yes, Montgomery. She was my _best_ friend." Ophelia was trying to keep herself together, but she could tell she was already falling apart. Especially as she heard the cracks in her weak voice.

"She was my best friend" she cried, "And I made a mistake. _We_ made a mistake. And she _killed_ herself because of it. _Because of me_!"

"You don't know that's why!" he shouted.

Ophelia shook her head, turning away. "I wish I didn't. I really wish I didn't."

Ophelia opened the door. Montgomery caught her by the arm before she stepped inside.

"Please don't leave me" he begged. He sounded so...vulnerable.

"Montgomery-"

"I love you" he told her, "I love you so fucking much. You can't just...You can't just..."

He was slurring in speech so bad he couldn't even finish his sentence.

"You should call someone to come get you" she told him. "You're lucky you made it here in one piece."

She stepped inside.

"Ophelia, please. Fucking _listen_ to me..."

But she didn't want to listen. She couldn't. She shut the door behind her before he could say anything else.

She had been staring at the ground. Partly in sorrow, and partly in shame. Looking up, she found Zach standing in front of her.

She didn't know when he had gotten there. She prayed he hadn't heard any of that, but she knew deep down that he probably had.

She wiped away a stray tear, embarrassed.

Zach took a deep breath before clearing his throat. "Ophelia?"

She gave him her attention.

"I...I need to tell you something. About Montgomery...and about the night of Jessica's party."

She waited, tentatively.


	6. Chapter 5

_"So, are you still planning on spending the night next week?"_

 _Ophelia looked away from her assignment towards Hannah, who was now sitting across from her._

 _"Yeah, why?" She laughed, "Are your parents tired of me already? I've only been over, like, four other times."_

 _"No, no, no" she said quickly, "It's just that Courtney wants to spend the night this weekend."_

 _"Courtney Cox?"_

 _"Yeah."_

 _Ophelia was confused. "Why?"_

 _Hannah bit her lip. "Just cause."_

 _Ophelia leaned closer. "I can tell you're hiding something. What is it?"_

 _Hannah sighed. "It's just..."_

 _"Go on..."_

 _"I think I have a stalker."_

 _Ophelia tensed. "You have a...what?"_

 _Hannah shook her head, quickly. "It's not that big of a deal, really. Courtney thinks he can lure him out."_

 _"Do you want my help?"_

 _"I don't want to bother you with this" she said, "Just come over the next weekend, okay? Will that work?"_

 _"Yeah, that'll work."_

 _Actually, it wouldn't. Montgomery had been in one of his moods that morning when she saw him, and she really didn't want to spend any time with him until he calmed down. That boy could cause an argument out of anything when he was angry._

 _She recalled the time she dropped a piece of ice out of the ice maker onto the floor, picked it up, and tossed into the sink. He yelled at her because he thought kicking it under the fridge would be better. After all, it would clean underneath the refrigerator._

 _Number one, Ophelia knew that was a terrible idea. Number two, it was her house, and he had no say over the cleaning._

 _Hannah spoke._

 _"Hey, instead you could go to the basketball game on Friday, since your boyfriends playing" she tried._

 _Ophelia chuckled, "Nice try. My boyfriend isn't on the basketball team."_

 _Hannah shrugged her shoulders, and laughed._

Ophelia recalled the time the photo of Hannah and Courtney came out. She recognized them immediately. She had been in that room before.

Ophelia didn't go to Hannah's house that weekend.

In fact, for the next week she tried to keep her at a distance all together. Hannah definitely noticed. She would text and call, and try to find her in the hallway. But Ophelia was good at hiding.

She shook her head at the memory. She was so cruel to her. She was too caught up in what would happen if people saw them together, or if anyone found out they had sleepovers together.

Montgomery still didn't know, which she was glad for. She would have bet money that Justin would have told him as soon as he heard it on the tapes. But he didn't. And she was grateful for that. But it didn't matter, because there's no way Bryce would keep his mouth shut once he heard.

Ophelia closed her eyes. What would Bryce do when he heard?

She watched Bryce. He stood a few feet in front of her at his locker. He was laughing and messing around with his friends. How could he act so normal? After everything he had done?

Why wasn't the guilt eating him alive like it was her?

Ophelia stared a moment too long, and Bryce looked over and caught her eye. He smiled at her, and hit Montgomery on the shoulder, then beckoned to her. Montgomery was staring at her too now.

She turned towards her locker, trying her hardest to ignore the eyes glued to her.

Montgomery just kept staring, wondering whether or not she was really looking for something in her locker, or if she was just avoiding him.

 _He_ was planning on being the one to avoid _her_.

The memories of last night were foggy to him because of the drinks he had, but a few things were clear to him.

He showed up at Ophelia's house.

He cried in front of her.

She told him she would never forgive him.

And, most importantly to him, there was a familiar car parked outside her house.

Montgomery didn't remember what type of car it was, but he remembered that he recognized it. He could remember the anger he felt last night.

He knew how he came off to people around him. Brute. Tough. Hotheaded. Unreasonable. Irritable. He liked to think that Ophelia could always see past that.

He had a compassionate side, and he would show it to her. The way she touched him and kissed him made him melt into her arms whenever they were together.

He loved her.

Which is why it broke his heart so much that she let Hannah Baker come between them. The little slut decided to kill herself and Ophelia put all the blame onto him. He would've thought she'd be over it by now. Maybe if she hadn't stayed at home so long depressing over the death she would be.

But in that time away...could she have met someone new? Maybe it was them putting all these ridiculous ideas in Ophelia's head. He knew he wasn't always the...gentlest boyfriend, or the kindest sometimes. He got jealous easily, but that was only because he had never cared about a girl like he cared about her.

Had she found someone kinder? Or more caring? Someone who was in the AP classes he couldn't get into? Or someone that would drop what they were doing to take her wherever she wanted to go?

Montgomery felt a hand on his shoulder. "Bro, you good?"

It wasn't until he heard those words that he felt a cold anger course through him.

He'd felt rage before; hot, broiling rage. But as he began thinking of her with another man, a better man, his anger turned ice cold.

"I think Ophelia's cheating on me."

The boys around him groaned, almost in unison.

"Dude, for the last time, she broke up with you" Justin tried to say.

Bryce shut him up. "Let the man talk." He turned to Montgomery, "Why do you think so?"

"Last night, at her house" he spoke, "I saw someone else's car there."

Bryce nodded his head, listening. Montgomery was glad that he had a friend like Bryce. He knew so much about girls, and how to make them work for you. And Bryce was always there to listen.

"What kind of car was it?"

Montgomery groaned. "I'm not sure. It was dark, and I was drunk, but I know that I recognized it. I just don't know from what."

"From school?" Marcus questioned.

Montgomery's look turned dark. "Better fucking not be. Everyone knows Ophelia's mine. I'll beat their fucking ass I swear to god-"

"Jesus, Monty, calm down" Bryce said with a chuckle.

"Don't tell me to fucking calm down!" he snapped, pulling his elbow back and slamming it into the row of lockers. It was louder than it was painful. But that's just what he did when he was angry. He took out that anger on whatever was closest to him.

And maybe that's why she was with someone else...Someone who never got angry with her...

"Dude, it was probably just a neighbor" Marcus said quickly, "or one of her friends from school. Shit, man, it was probably just Zach."

Zach shrunk under the sudden gaze of his more muscular friend. Montgomery was glaring at him with such an intense look that he could already feel his fists in his face.

What happened the night before was so cringeful, and humiliating for Montgomery. If Montgomery knew Zach was there to witness that, he doubted he would be let out of that school in one piece.

Add the fact that he was with Ophelia. In her house. Alone. He wouldn't be let out _alive_.

"Why the fuck would you be there?" Montgomery demanded.

"Why wouldn't he be" Bryce joked, "Imma be honest, Montgomery, I'd hit that too if she let me."

"It wasn't like that-" Zach tried, but was cut off as Montgomery took a sudden step forward and pushed him against the lockers. He felt a pain in his shoulder.

"Woah!" Marcus yelled.

Justin pushed Montgomery away from his friend.

"He went to make sure you didn't set her fucking house on fire. You were shit-faced drunk and angry as fuck" Justin snapped at him.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Montgomery demanded. He was fuming, "Ophelia's at her house fucking other guys while I'm feeling miserable-"

"You weren't miserable" Justin scoffed, "you were playing a game."

"Whose side are you _fucking_ _on_?" Montgomery yelled.

"Look, guys, I think we should all calm down" Zach started.

"Who the fuck you think you're talking to?" Montgomery snapped, taking another step towards him.

Justin stepped up and in between them. "Chill the fuck out-"

"No! Not until he tells me why the _fuck_ he was at my girlfriend's house last night!"

"I wasn't!" Zach said quickly, "Jesus, Monty, you took off so fast I didn't have a chance to follow you. I was driving around lost for ten minutes before I just decided to go home."

A bead of sweat rolled down Zach's forehead as he watched Montgomery process the lie he just told him, hoping he would believe it.

Montgomery visibly calmed down, which caused Zach to relax.

"Who was it then?" Montgomery demanded, "Who was at her house?"

"How the fuck should _I_ know?" Zach said, trying to best to keep a tone of false innocence.

Montgomery glanced towards Ophelia's locker. She had left, and was probably on her way towards fist period. Maybe if he hurried, he'd be able to catch her off guard.

"Fuck you guys, then" he told the group of boys, "I'll find out my-fucking-self."

As he raced down the hall, the group of boys remained tense. All except Bryce, who still thought the entire situation was hilarious.

"Fuck you" Justin told him, "You're the one who put this idea in his head."

Bryce chuckled. "What? You guys are actually mad at me for this? C'mon, Monty getting pissed off is the funniest thing ever."

Zach sent him a pointed look, "Yeah? Well try not to throw me under the bus next time. He was about to beat my ass."

"Well you shouldn't have gone to his girlfriend's house" Bryce defended himself.

"She's not his girlfriend!" Zach yelled. He let out a large, angry breath.

There was a pause. Bryce gained a smile. "So you were at her house after all?"

Zach hesitated. "N-No-"

"It's okay" Bryce said. He patted Zach on the shoulder, "Just invite me next time you go."

He had a dark look that eased up as he began walking after Montgomery. Justin and Marcus both looked at Zach, sharing a look with him.

"C'mon, Zach. You know better than that" Marcus said.

Zach was shocked. "You're mad at _me_? You know what Monty's capable of. How was I just supposed to sit by and-"

"It's none of your business man" Justin cut him off.

Zach looked at him and scoffed, "Yeah? Well, Jessica isn't my business either. But I wouldn't have stood by while something fucked up happened to her either."

Justin's face fell still, before twisting together in an angry snarl. "You watch your fucking mouth, Dempsey."

"It's not me you should be worried about" Zach said, "I hear Clay has the tapes now. He's way more talkative than I am."

"There's nothing to fucking talk about. None of it's true!" Justin defended.

Zach shook his head. "Then you have nothing to worry about."

 **A/N: sorry it's so short guys. I just really wanted to update for you. My summer job just ended so I should be able to throw some more chapters out soon :). Keep commenting guys, I love hearing your theories about the story ❤️**

 **To answer some questions:**

 **What is Rep Night? Rep Night is short for Class Representation night, which is a big party in the story. Don't worry, you'll find out about it soon ;)**

 **Have Alex and Montgomery had their fight yet? No. Trust me, there's a lot more to come.**


	7. Chapter 6

_Ophelia sat with her legs crossed on her bed. In her hand was her cell phone. She was on the phone with none other than Hannah Baker._

 _"I don't know, girl" she told her, "Marcus is kind of shady. I don't think I'd go out with him._

 _'_ Obviously _' Hannah answered, '_ You have a boyfriend _.'_

 _Ophelia snorted, "Yeah, and he would flip his shit if I ever went out with one of his-"_

 _Ophelia stopped herself suddenly. She almost said 'one of his best friends'. That was definitely too much information for her ._

 _'_ One of his what?' _Hannah asked, pouncing on the new clue, '_ One of his teammates?'

 _Ophelia sighed, "Fine! I'll give you that one. Marcus is one of his teammates. But I'm not telling you which sport!"_

 _Hannah started laughing with sudden glee. "_ Marcus is a _baseball_ player, isn't he? He's definitely a-

 _The bedroom door suddenly flew open, thudding against the wall carelessly. Ophelia immediately hung up the call dropping her phone as Hannah's laugh faded in her ears._

 _Montgomery stepped inside, holding two paper grocery bags. Ophelia didn't even hear the door open down stairs._

 _"Guess what, babe? I stopped by the store for some snacks." He spoke casually, as if he didn't just scare her with his unannounced presence. Then again, it's not the first time he's done this._

 _"S-Snacks?" she asked him, "For what?"_

 _Had she forgotten a date night?_

 _"I don't know" he mumbled, setting the bags on her previously tidy night stand, "I thought we'd watch a movie or something."_

 _He was turned to her fully now. His eyes seemed to drag themselves to her phone, which laid facing down on her blanket. Yet, he could still tell she was on it only moments ago._

 _His eyes flickered to her for only a moment before looking back to her phone._

 _"Who were you talking to?"_

 _His voice sounded cold. But his breath hit her hot as he became suddenly so much closer._

 _"No one." She brushed off._

 _His phone was in her hand before she realized he was close enough to grab it. She quickly changed her story. "It was just Hannah."_

 _His eyes seemed glued to her phone. He sat next to her on the bed. He clicked the home button, and her phone lit up with nine numbers, awaiting her to put in her passcode. Montgomery seemed to be waiting for the same thing._

 _He watched her with patient eyes, handing the phone back to her in fake trustworthiness. "Show me."_

 _"What?"_

 _"The call log. Show me."_

There was an unfamiliar coldness that swept through the school that day. It emitted off the brunette boy with the large earphones. His cold stare wore her down from across campus.

She had rehearsed this conversation in her head. A conversation where someone asked questions, and didn't just go along with her 'I'm fine' or 'it wasn't true'.

Clay wasn't like the rest of them. A small part of her was grateful for it, because that small part of her was yearning for help. But the rest of her knew better. Help would never come.

"Hey, Ophelia." His words were like slashes in her skin.

She sighed. _Here we go again._

She turned, swiftly. She felt slow movements would just admit guilt. "Hey, Clay. What's up?"

Clay was nervous. Maybe more than her. He fondled with the headphones in his hands. Ophelia could've rolled her eyes if she wasn't so upset by all this. He wasn't even trying to hide what he was doing.

"Do you mind if we talk?" he asked.

She hesitated. She knew this was coming as soon as she heard his name on the tapes. She wished she had prepared herself better.

"I don't have a lot of time right now" she muttered. She twiddled with her own backpack strap. "Lunch is over soon, and I still need to return this book to the library."

"This won't take long" he assured her.

Ophelia knew that it would be better just to get this over with. There was nothing Clay could actually do, right? The worst thing he could do was tell someone, but she knew how to spin things to make her a victim if she needed to. She prepared for this.

"Sure" she said plainly. She faced him. "What?"

He hesitated, scratching the back of his head. "Do you think we could go somewhere...private?"

Ophelia felt a trickle of nervousness. She gulped before saying, "I'm more comfortable out here."

Clay paused, nodded, and then said, "Yeah, fine, whatever. Look, I just need to know whether or not Hannah really came to you before she...died."

Ophelia shook her head. "No" she said, plainly.

Clay's voice was strained. "I know you two were friends. I mean, she talked about you a lot."

Those few words caused Ophelia to feel a painful throbbing in her chest.

She almost asked, ' _What did she say?_ ' But she knew that didn't matter now. It was too late for it to matter.

"Yes" she admitted, "we were friends. But that was a long time ago."

"How long ago?"

Ophelia knew Clay didn't mean to hurt her like this. She knew he was desperately seeking his own answers. She thought she was ready to give them to him. She wasn't.

"Look Clay, just tell me what you want to know" she begged, "Is it about me, about Montgomery, about Rep Night? Because she left some things out, Clay. She made it so _she_ was the only victim."

As soon as she said it, she knew she shouldn't have. Victim shaming a dead girl? Not her best move.

Clay looked confused. "Rep Night? What happened Rep Night?"

He must have seen right through her. He knew the truth, and he wanted her to make sure of it.

She snapped, "Don't believe everything you hear, Clay."

Clay was silent for a minute. Slowly, he said, "You know about the tapes?"

The tapes. Of course she knew. But the question is-did he not know she knew? Did she just give herself away before the tapes even convicted her?

She breathed, "Of-Of course."

Clay said, "I didn't know."

Ophelia froze.

Had she just given herself away?

"You got them...yesterday? Are you not done yet?"

"Are you kidding me? They're almost an hour long. Why does everyone expect me to go so fast?" Clay sent her a look. "What number are you?"

"One of the last." _Meaning one of the main reasons._

Clay let out a deep breath. "Jesus, Ophelia, I didn't know. Who else?"

Ophelia felt some unnameable force stopping her from telling him. Instead, she sent him a curt smile. "It's a surprise."

He looked disappointed. "Is it bad? I mean, mine. Is mine bad?"

She stilled. "Not as bad." She didn't say as bad as what. Ophelia felt a sudden vibration on her skin. She picked her phone out of her pocket. A new text message.

'Meet me under bleachers. Now. Important.'

It was from Zach. She hesitated before answering.

'No.'

Before she even had time to put her phone back in her pocket, another text message came through.

'PLEASE'

She sighed. She barely looked at Clay, muttering only a simple, "I've got to go."

Then she headed to the bleachers, knowing that this would only cause her more trouble. But at that moment, she didn't care.

 **A/N: Hey guys! I know this chapter is pretty short but I just wanted to give y'all an update. I kind of forgot about a lot of my stories on FanFic(also on Wattpad and Quotev :)) but since season 2 of 13RW is coming out I decided to dive back into this one!**

 **I'll try to update my other stories as well if any of you are interested.**

 **If you have any questions, or if I mess up the timeline of this story in anyway, please let me know!**


	8. Chapter 7

The bright sun warmed the entirety of the school, but the cool breeze it went along with kept the temperature bareable. But Ophelia was called under the bleachers. She was stuck in the shadows, away from the sun, and suddenly feeling very cold. She was itching to hurry things up. Groups of boys were running laps around the field. Their energy unnerved her.

"Listen..." Zach hesitated, "I think we need to come up with a cover story."

She blinked. "For what?"

"For what? For last night! Monty knows someone was there."

He sounded panicked, but at that moment, she didn't quite care.

"Zach, c',mon, you sound a bit paranoid."

Zach scoffed, "He saw someone's car. He knows someone was there, and as far as he's concerned, you were cheating."

Ophelia thought about who they were talking about. She knew how jealous he could be. She suddenly started caring.

"Does he know it was you?"

Zach huffed. He put his hands on his hips, with a distasteful expression. The sight of this grown man pouting in front of her, wearing a varsity jacket and everything, was almost enough to make her smile.

"Bryce suggested it was me" he said in a 'dad-who's-happy-he-left-the-office-early' tone, "but I deflected it. We need to be careful."

Ophelia crossed her arms, "First of all, Zachary, I didn't cheat. _Even though I technically can't since we're broken up._ Me and you didn't even do anything last night."

"You think he'll believe that?" His voice was more desperate.

"If you didn't want him to think we're 'secretly dating', why did you make me meet you at the make out bleachers? You don't think that makes things look a little suspicious?"

Zach stopped. His face twisted into a confused look. His head turned to the side. He pointed to the bleachers on the opposite side of the football field.

"Those are the makeout bleachers" he tried to say.

Ophelia held in a sigh. "This is a public high school. All bleachers are makeout bleachers!"

Zach now looked more disgusted. "I'm standing in the same spot where freshmen grope each other in between classes?"

Zach's innocence softened Ophelia. She knew Montgomery's mind would've went to dirtier scenarios, and she knew she wouldn't want to hear them.

Ophelia had been to the same makeout bleaches with Montgomery once. He had convinced her to skip an entire class for it. She couldn't believe she actually did. But Montgomery was very persuasive when he wanted to be. Which was most of the time.

For a split second, she imagined if Zach had actually called her to these bleachers to do exactly that. Make out. She imagined kissing Zach. His deep voice was so soft sometimes. He was muscular like Montgomery, but his face looked softer. He had more weight in his cheeks, and his lips were bigger. Such a cute face...

When Ophelia didn't respond, Zach assumed she must have gotten bored of the small talk. He got to the point. "Look, if Montgomery asks, just say your parents had a friend over last night, and that they drove together to dinner."

Ophelia nodded, ending her sudden Zach-based thoughts. "That could work."

Ophelia paused. She then said, "I could text him. Have him meet me in the hallway. I doubt he'd mind leaving class."

Zach frowned. "You want to...talk to him?"

"I was...thinking about it. I just-I need some things cleared up."

Zach asked, "About Jessica's party?"

She only nodded.

He sighed.

"Look, Ophelia, what happened at the party..." he started, "It doesn't change what happened outside the party. I _only_ told you what happened so that you would, y'know, start taking things a little more seriously."

Ophelia's expression hardened. "More seriously? You think I'm taking Hannah's subside as a joke?"

"N-No-"

"Maybe I will tell Monty you were at my house. Think he'll start taking our breakup more seriously then?"

"Ophelia, come on!" he pleaded, "I didn't mean it like that!"

"Then how did you mean it?" She demanded

"You disappeared!" Zach yelled, "People were freaking out, okay? Jessica was worried the whole time...I was worried the whole time."

"It's called a grieving period" Ophelia told him. "I _needed_ to grieve."

"You needed to hide your guilt" he told her.

"You're not innocent in this, Zach" she snapped.

He scoffed, shaking his head. "Compared to you, I am."

"It wouldn't have even happened if it wasn't for you!" Ophelia was suddenly distressed. "I tried to apologize for ignoring her after Winter Ball. I tried to make things better! You were the reason she never got my apologies."

He shook his head. "If it was serious you would've put a note in her locker-"

"And I would've! I would've if I had known you were stealing what I gave her! I thought she was ignoring me? Do you know how angry I was at her."

He was silent for a moment. It seemed the whole world went silent.

"I-I didn't know what was on the notes."

"Of course you didn't. And now she never will either." Ophelia took a breath. "I'm tired of keeping secrets."

"I'm sorry" he apologized, "it's just what we have to do."

"Why?"

"Well, because...because sometimes secrets aren't true. Right?" Ophelia didn't respond right away, so he pressed harder. "She exaggerates things, right?"

She sighed. "What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to say that Hannah's a _fucking_ liar. I want you to tell me that Monty is a good man and that I've been hating my best friend for no reason-"

"He was a good boyfriend-"

"Then fucking tell me that Rep Night never happened. Tell me that Winterball never happened."

"Zach, stop it" She hissed.

"I've been protecting you!" This time he yelled at her. His soft voice turned hard, and he sounded the same as when he talked to his friends. "The others wanted to force you to meet with them. They were going to go banging at your door. _I_ was the one who convinced them to let you have your fucking _grieving period_."

Ophelia had gathered all her things and stood up "You know what, Zach? I didn't ask you to do that."

"You didn't have to ask, Ophelia. Okay? I wanted you to be okay but I also wanted to make sure that you knew-"

 _Ring_

Ophelia flinched. No way that was the bell. She checked her phone. She had been under the bleachers a full forty-five minutes. How had time flown by that fast?

"Dammit!" she said, "I didn't want to miss the whole period!"

"It would've been worse if you walked in late" Zach tried to console.

The boys at PE began running in. People began passing by on their way to their next class.

"I'm leaving" she told him.

"Fine. Just...Just come with us to Bryce's house after school. Jessica really wants to talk to you."

She sighed. Opening her mouth to reply, she ran straight into someone.

"Shit!" she yelled. The person caught her, and stopped her from stumbling.

"What the fuck, Zach?" Montgomery hissed.

Ophelia brought herself away from him. But he didn't even look at her, he was just staring at Zach.

"Marcus fucking told me you two were here" he said, "Zach, what the actual fuck do you think you're doing."

"Just talking" Zach said roughly, with a bead of defense.

"Talking?" he looked at Ophelia now, "What were you talking about?"

"It doesn't matter-"

Montgomery reached out and grabbed her arm. "What were you talking about?" he repeated, much louder this time.

"Monty!-" Zach started

"You!" Ophelia yelled at him, "We were talking about you!"

He let her go. "What about me? Thinking up a plan of what to say to me if I asked who was at your house last night?"

He knew. How did he know? How did he know everything she was thinking?

She shook her head, "Actually, he told me what happened at Jessica's party."

Zach paled. "Wait-"

"What about it?" Montgomery demanded.

Ophelia could sense him getting frustrated. She placed a hand gingerly on his chest, and spoke in her calmest voice. "He told me that you protected me."

His face softened. His eyes glanced to Zach, and then back to her. "Of course."

She smiled at him. "Thank you."

She took a step away.

Montgomery quickly spoke up, "Hey, do you need a ride after school? We're going to Bryce's."

No. Of course she didn't want to go to Bryce's. But one glance at Zach changed her mind. She thought about what he said. She had avaoided everyone's long enough. She needed to do something.

"You know what? Yeah. I'll come."

"Great!" Montgomery smiled. Ophelia walked off.

Montgomery slapped Zach on the back, and gave him an appreciative grin. "Thanks, man. I think I just gained some Ophelia points."

Zach forced a smile. "Of course, man. Don't worry about it."


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: ABOUT THE BATHROOM SCENE**

 **So I put this story on hold until Season 2 came out so that I could make sure the stuff I said was accurate, but I am disgusted from what I learned. I will be continuing this story, but a few things will be different then how I planned. Not just because of Montgomery, but because of Zach/Hannah. Montgomery's actions in episode 13 were unforgivable and if Ophelia knew about them (or if she learns about them if this story continues to Season 2) then there is no way she would get back together with him. But seeing as that hasn't happened yet I will be writing this story with Season 1 Montgomery in mind.**

 **There may be a few spoilers for Season 2 from this point of the story on. Especially when it comes to flashbacks from before Hannah died.**

 _ **TW: Mentions of sexual assault**_

 _"You were really fucking drunk" Zach told her, "you were, like, wasted."_

 _It was ironic for him to be saying that, seeing as he was laying drunk on her couch at that very moment. Montgomery had only just left, and she could still hear his tires screeching. He hadn't had any right to come over. Then again, neither did Zach. But she let_ him _stay._

 _"So what? Everyone was drunk at Jessica's party" she said._

 _She was nervous. Actually-she was scared. Scared of what direction this was going in. Scared of what 'secret' Zach was about to tell her._

 _"You and Montgomery were sitting with Bryce-"_

 _She flinched at the name._

 _"-and Justin, Marcus, and I were across from you."_

 _She nodded, "Yeah."_

 _"Well..."_

 _He stopped._

 _"Well what, Zach? What the fuck happened that I don't remember."_

 _She was scared he was going to tell her the same thing Jessica heard. She was terrified as soon as Bryce's name was mentioned._

 _"It's...I don't know, it's nothing really..."_

 _No. He couldn't stop there. Not after saying that much. Ophelia's muscles began aching._

 _"Zach..." she breathed, "what happened?"_

 _He kind of sighed. His reluctance infruriated her._

 _"Look, Monty what to go grab another drink, and you kind of...I don't know, you fell onto Bryce's lap."_

 _A shutter went through her body. "What did he do, Zach?"_

 _She still waited for him to say it. To say that horrid word._

 _'Rape.'_

 _'You were raped, Ophelia.'_

 _'Bryce raped you.'_

 _"Zach, what the fuck did he do?" Ophelia screamed. She no longer cared about her sister waking up._

 _"Nothing!" Zach yelled back, "He wanted you to give him a blow job. But nothing happened. Monty showed up and nearly beat the shit out of him."_

 _"He...He wanted me to what?"_

 _"Nothing actually happened, Ophelia" he told her, "I just wanted you to remember that...Monty isn't the worst guy out there."_

Zach recalled the words he said to Ophelia the other night.

'Monty isn't the worst guy out there.'

What the fuck was he thinking? Why would he say that to her, especially after hearing the tapes? Did he just want to watch her crawl back to him? Part of him wanted her to forgive Montgomery, because Montgomery was his friend, and he'd never seen him as heartbroken as those days at school when Ophelia wasn't by his side. That part must have taken over when he let out his drunk confession.

He had never seen Montgomery so serious until Ophelia left him, but then again, he apparently didn't know Montgomery as well as he thought anyways. He hoped what he heard about his friend was a lie, but as he sat there studying the way Montgomery interacted with Ophelia, he didn't think it was.

It was Zach's fault that Ophelia was at Bryce's house with them, and he knew this. He had basically given her a reason to forgive him. He had never seen Montgomery act like such a 'gentleman' before. He opened the doors for her, offered her something to drink every few minutes, and even kicked Alex off the Xbox so that Ophelia could play a round with him.

Zach could feel her resistance towards him breaking, and it was all his fault.

Alex, who sat next to Ophelia on the couch in Bryce's pool house, and was watching Montgomery casually rest his arm over Ophelia's shoulders, was having a harder time staying silent.

He remembered when _he_ first heard the tapes. He couldn't believe Montgomery wasn't on them. But then again, Hannah didn't know what he knew...

Alex's leg was touching Ophelia's, and he could feel her body stiffen. Looking over, he saw Montgomery was whispering something to her.

"Hey!" Alex interrupted, "Pay attention to the game, man!"

Montgomery laughed, but he agreed. He pulled away from Ophelia and turned back to his game. He hadn't noticed the silence in the room.

"Monty" Justin suddenly started, "Why don't you and Bryce go on another beer run?"

Jessica sat next to Justin, and she wasn't hiding her angry looks from anyone. She had been glaring at Montgomery the entire time.

"Why me?" Montgomery asked.

"You and Bryce are the only one with your fake IDs on you right now."

Bryce let out a laugh. He sat at the table in the pool house, sipping on a beer as they spoke. "Is there a reason I need to babysit him?"

Justin rolled his eyes. "You trust him not to fuck up the order?"

"Fuck you!" Montgomery yelled.

He didn't look like he planned on moving, so Alex paused the game.

"Come on man, just do the fucking run" Alex told him.

Montgomery let out an annoyed sigh. "Fuck you guys." He jumped to his feet, and then turned around to face Ophelia. "Let's go."

She stayed in her spot. "I'll just stay here."

"The fuck are you talking about? Come with us" Montgomery started.

Justin butted in. "She looks like a fucking fifteen year old, Monty. They're not going to sell you beer with her there."

"She doesn't need to be twenty one, dumbass. Just me and Bryce do."

"Yeah and you'd be the _dumbass_ twenty one year old dating the fifteen year old." Justin flung his arm toward the door. "Would you just fucking go already?"

"Jesus, Justin, would you give me a fucking second" he snapped. Montgomery looked back at Ophelia. "Just come with us."

Ophelia shared a quick glance with Justin. He shook his head.

"Just be quick" she told Montgomery, "I'll be waiting right here for you."

 _'I'll be waiting for you.'_

That must have eased him, because she could see him become more relaxed.

She smiled at him. "Can you get me a coke while you're there?"

He smiled back at her, a genuine smile that she hadn't seen in a while. "Yeah, of course. We'll be right back."

"Let's go, dumbass!" Bryce yelled out at him.

Ophelia watched him go. She smiled, subconsciously. She hadn't realized she was doing it until she heard Justin say sarcastically, "What a cute couple."

"Stop it" Jessica snapped, "Why the fuck are you guys still hanging out with him?"

Ophelia wished they wouldn't start up on this topic.

"Why not?" Justin said, "Hannah decides she wants to exaggerate some things that happened to her, and you decide I should drop one of my best friends over it?"

"I'm not talking about what he did to fucking Hannah!" Jessica yelled at him, "I'm talking about what he did to Ophelia! Did you see him? He didn't want to leave her alone with us."

Ophelia stayed silent, staring at her hands in her lap. She tried to pretend she wasn't hearing them talking about her. She tried to pretend she didn't come to the pool house. Alex noticed her discomfort, and tried his best to change the subject.

"What about Bryce?" Alex asked, "What are you doing about him?"

Jessica rolled her eyes at him. "It's different. She made up the thing about Bryce. I believe everything I heard about Montgomery. You guys know how he gets."

Marcus, who decided to stay silent until now said, "That's not our fucking call. And that's not why we're here. We're here to talk about Clay. He has the tapes."

Justin smirked. "You can let me and Zach take care of him."

"Woah, Woah, what are you planning on doing with him?" Zach asked. He stood and crossed his arms. "I don't want to hurt him."

Justin's face turned more serious. "You want him to go to the fucking police, Dempsey?"

"No, I don't want him to go to the fucking police. I think we should include him in our meeting. Make him understand."

This caught Ophelia's attention. She spoke up. "What meetings?"

"We meet every time a new person gets the tapes"Justin said, "Not like you would fucking know. You haven't fucking been here."

Zach was quick to come to her defense. "Neither has Sheri. Or Courtney."

Ophelia wondered why she had to come if neither of the other girls did. She wondered if Clay would actually come to these 'meetings'. And if Clay refused to go, should she?

"Clay won't say anything" Marcus said, "I doubt he'd risk saying anything that would make Hannah look like a slut."

Jessica's head snapped his way. "What tape is that exactly?"

"Most of them" he said, "especially the ones with Bryce."

Jessica scoffed, "Come _on_ -"

"He's right, Jess" Justin said, "She seems desperate."

Zach nodded, continuing his towering stance. "And if we convinced Clay that it's in all of our best interests to keep it quiet, I'm sure he'd stay quiet."

Marcus spoke again. "I _need_ this to go away. If it gets out, there goes my chances at Harvard."

Justin let out an annoyed groan.

"There you go with fucking Harvard again" he said, "If these tapes get out, and someone actually believes them, some of us could go to jail."

Marcus huffed and gave an angered reply. But Zach's attention was taken away from them as he heard Ophelia's phone go off. He looked towards her, and noticed Alex and Jessica did the same. Ophelia looked down at her messages, smiled, and then replied. He bit his tongue. But then the phone went off again, and then a third time. He wondered who she could be talking to that would make her smile like that.

When it went off a fourth time he asked, "Who the fuck is that?"

He spoke too angrily, and he watched her flinch at his tone. It wasn't Zach's fault his voice was deep and intimidating.

Ophelia was startled, and for a moment scared, like she had just been caught doing something she wasn't supposed to be doing.

"No one" she answered quickly. She put her phone on mute.

Zach made eye contact with Alex, who was still next to her, and was able to see her phone.

Alex sighed, "It was just Monty."

Ophelia looked angry with his answer, "What the hell, Alex?"

Alex shrugged, "It's true."

"Why is he texting you?" Jessica demanded.

Ophelia scoffed. "Guys, chill. He's just asking me if I want any gum or anything from the store."

She looked at her phone again, only to find another message.

' _Omw back'_

She frowned. There was nothing bad about that. Nothing mischievous. So why did she feel so guilty about it?

Because she broke up with him. And he's acting like it didn't happen. And now _she's_ acting like it didn't happen. Because Montgomery is a bad person, and she's letting him get to her again.

"So this is all you do at the meetings?" Ophelia asked, "Just talk about which people you need to threaten?"

"Don't be fucking dramatic" Justin told her.

Ophelia almost laughed. "Dramatic? Hannah is dead because of us!"

Justin jumped up from his spot and quickly moved in front of Ophelia on the couch. He towered over her, not in a way meant to be threatening, but in a way that he could get his point across.

"Hannah is dead because she slit her wrists in a bathtub. No other reason."

Zach marched over and pushed Justin away from Ophelia. "Lay the fuck off."

Justin shook his head, "We know you have a little crush on her, Dempsey. You may see her as innocent, but I don't. Just because she regrets what she did doesn't mean her and her boyfriend won't have to face the consequences."

"She never said Montgomery's name" Ophelia told him, "He never had a tape. He's...he's not involved in all of this."

"Maybe he should be" Justin snapped, "Maybe we could get him to slap some sense into you."

Justin's words seemed to deflate her. The stress of the day, and the stress of the night before all caught up with her. She tried to hide her face as it contorted into an ugly expression, and she tried to close her eyes before anyone could see how red they were becoming. Justin was too much that day. Everything was too much that day. She couldn't help it when she started crying. She tried so hard not to, but she did. She felt so pathetic.

"Shit" Justin whispered.

Jessica almost slapped him, "Are you fucking kidding me, Justin?"

Jessica sat down next to her, and attempted to pull her friend into her arms. "I'm sorry, O. Justin is a fucking idiot."

Zach was stumbling for words, "Is-um-Do you think she's okay?"

"She's fucking crying you dumbass, how do you think she is?" Alex said.

Jessica continued to console her. But the damage had already been done.

By the time Montgomery got back to the pool house, she had calmed down, but she still demanded he took her home.

 _"_ Why?" Montgomery asked. He placed two six packs of beer on to the table.

"I just really need to be getting home" she got out.

Montgomery looked around. He noticed the hesitant looks of his friends.

"What happened?" He asked. He looked to Jessica suspiciously, who was still holding Ophelia in a gentle pose. "Did someone say something to you?"

"Monty-"

"What the fuck happened?" He asked again.

"I can take you" Jessica cut in.

"No!" Montgomery said quickly. His need for clarification left quickly as the thought of him being left behind hit him. "I'll take her."

Ophelia nodded, and left with him.

She muttered a quick "bye" before Montgomery put his arm around her and gestured her out.

Zach watched from the window as they left.

"Jeez, Zach, are you a stalker now?" Bryce joked.

"I'm just making sure they get out okay" Zach said, speaking in a tough tone. But his cheeks began reddening regardless.

The car ride over was silent, which was surprising to Ophelia. Montgomery was a natural class clown, and she couldn't believe he hadn't been making any comical comments. She also couldn't believe he hadn't invited one of his friends to come along. But then again, she was sure he valued this alone time.

The air was on too high, and Ophelia had goosebumps. She wouldn't say it out loud, though. She didn't want to say anything at all.

When they got to her house, he opened the car door for her, and then walked her up to her door.

"Can I..." Montgomery hesitated, "Can I come in?"

"I don't think thats a good idea" she said quickly.

He sighed. "Ophelia, what the fuck happened? I thought you were having a good time."

She searched for an excuse. "It's just too much. The pool house. Too many people."

Montgomery nodded like he understood, but she knew he didn't. He loved being around people. He loved his friends. He would do anything for them. It's who he relied on.

"Jessica said something, didn't she?"

Ophelia looked up at him. "No, Jessica was being nice."

"Did she tell you to break up with me?"

She shook her head, "Monty-"

"She's been talking about me to the boys. I heard her. Fucking bitch. She told Justin that he shouldn't let me talk to you. I fucking saw it on his phone."

She hated the direction this conversation was heading in, but she didn't know how to stop it. She decided just to let him vent for a moment.

"Like their relationship is so fucking perfect" he scoffed, "We're better than them. You know that, right? I've protected you when Justin couldn't protect her."

His statement shocked her. She wondered, did he know what happened to Jessica?

"Are you talking about...Jessica's party?"

"I'm talking about more than her fucking party" he said.

Ophelia took a step closer to him, and dropped her voice. Her parents weren't home yet, but she was still scared someone would hear.

"Zach told me that Bryce...he was going to make me do stuff..."

"He wanted you to suck his fucking dick" Montgomery said, continuing in his loud voice, not caring who heard. "I'm the one that stopped him."

Montgomery spoke in such a crude tone that it made her shudder.

"Zach told me that. Thank you."

"Are you best friends with Zach now?" He asked.

"No, Monty. Our families are friends-"

"He couldn't protect you like I could" Montgomery stated in a possessive tone. "He's a fucking pussy, O. He was sitting across from Bryce the whole party and he didn't do a goddamn thing."

Ophelia tried to register what he was saying. No way that was true. No way Zach would've sat back and done nothing.

"He would've if you hadn't come back" she tried to say. She felt a need to defend Zach.

He shook his head. "Ophelia, I left you alone for two second to go get a drink. I come back, your head is in Bryce's lap and his dick is half fucking out. If he wasn't shitfaced drunk I would have killed him. Not to mention Zach was just sitting back, watching the whole thing."

He stopped, and he seemed to be waiting for her to respond. But she didn't. She had nothing to say. There were no words that would process in her brain.

"But you don't have to worry about that" he told her, "You don't have to worry about anything. Especially this fucking lawsuit. Or anything to do with Hannah fucking Baker. Because I'll be with you the whole time and make sure nothing bad happens to you, got it?"

Montgomery smiled. It was so strange for Ophelia to see him smile after being told about such a disgusting thing. But he smiled, none the less, and he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.

Ophelia flinched, and seemed to come out of her shock.

"You can't do that!" She yelled at him, "We're not okay yet, Monty!"

"But we're getting there" he told her, smile still on his face. "Don't worry about getting a ride tomorrow, I'll come pick you up at seven, okay?"

She didn't tell him 'no'. She should have, but she couldn't.

Entering her home, she got a text from Zach.

' _Hey, are you okay?'_

Montgomery's words came back to her, and with them she received a burst of anger. Especially at the tall basketball player who 'sat by and watched'.

And with this anger, she deleted his contact.


	10. Chapter 9

"You want the aux, O?"

Ophelia glanced towards Montgomery in the drivers seat. He was holding out an auxiliary cord towards her.

"I'm good" she told him.

Montgomery shrugged, and handed it to Justin, who then put on hip hop. Justin turned the stereo on high, and she could feel the bass through her seat. She tightened her high ponytail. The wind coming into Montgomery's jeep caused her hair to whip back and fourth violently. She straightened her sunglasses, which were the only thing keeping her hair from flying into her eyeball.

Justin, who sat behind Montgomery, leaned up and began talking to him. But because of the loud music and wind, it was more like yelling.

"Hey man, you think I could crash at your house tonight?" Justin asked his friend, "Seth's in a real mood, man."

"Sorry" Montgomery told him, "I'm not even at my house tonight. My dad went on a fucking bender the other night. I dipped. Probably not going back for a few days."

This surprised Ophelia. He always called her when his dad went off on him. Yes, she had been avoiding him, but she didn't want him to have to deal with his dad alone. She wondered how many of those missed calls was him hurt and in need.

"When did that happen?" she asked him.

"I think last Thursday."

Last night, the night before, the day she came back...

He had been on his own all that time. And she didn't even know it.

"Where have you been staying?" she asked him.

He looked at her through the rear view mirror, "You know where."

Ophelia knew exactly where he was talking about. She cringed thinking about it. In the ruins of an abondoned building. In the middle of three concrete graffitied walls and no ceiling. In the dirt. Probably no sleeping bag, or blanket. He was the worst packer she knew, so he probably only had a single pair of clothes.

She studied his outfit. He had a different shirt on then the day before, but the same jeans.

She bit her lip. She didn't want to point out the dirt on his pants, or the ketchup stain that she remembered seeing at the pool house the day before. But she thought it would be worse if one of his friends did.

She licked her thumb, before bringing it down to the crusted dirt near the front pocket of his jeans. She wanted to rub it off, but as soon as she touched him the whole car swerved.

"Monty, what the fuck?" Justin yelled from the backseat.

"Shut the hell up" Montgomery snapped at him. He glanced at Ophelia, "The fuck are you doing?"

"Your jeans are _really_ dirty" she told him.

"Yeah, I know. You don't have to grab my dick while I'm driving."

"I didn't-" she stopped, and rolled her eyes. She tried to surprise the laugh that was building inside of her by shutting her mouth, but that only caused her to let out an unattractive snort. She couldn't stop herself after that. She let out a soft laugh, that Montgomery wouldn't have heard if he hadn't turned down the radio.

He laughed too, as did Justin.

Skidding into his parking spot, Montgomery came to a sudden halt.

"Jesus Christ, Monty. You're going to hit someone" Ophelia scolded, but she was partly amused.

Justin had already began jumping out of the back.

"The only way I'd hit someone is if I was aiming for them" Montgomery shot back.

"Okay, well when you get into an accident, I'll make sure to tell the person you hit it was intentional."

Ophelia hopped out of the Jeep, throwing her backpack on, and tightening her ponytail again. She took off her sunglasses, hanging them on the front of her shirt. Montgomery and Justin waited for her, and the three walked in together. Montgomery slung his arm over her shoulders. She shrugged it off.

"Knock it off" she told him.

He backed off. "Fine, Fine."

Entering Liberty High, Ophelia noticed Tyler lurking by the door. She wanted to ignore him, but he apparently wanted more with her.

She watched him raise his camera in her direction, and snap a photo. She frowned. She watched him take a second photo, and decided she didn't have time to deal with the crazy stalker that day.

Ophelia elbowed Montgomery, causing him to look over at her and notice Tyler. He straightened up. "Hey, get out of here you fucking stalker!"

Ophelia nodded to herself, happy with his reaction.

Tyler didn't back down, "It's for the yearbook."

"Yeah? Take another one. See what happens."

Tyler lowered his camera. Ophelia smiled, and gave Montgomery a grateful look. He smirked at her, "He's a fucking pussy."

Montgomery made the bold move of putting his arm around her again. She hesitated, but this time she let it stay. She felt a power rush standing next to the buff athlete.

"Hey, Jess" Ophelia heard Justin say.

She watched Jessica walk up to them. A dirty look was sent towards Montgomery. She didn't bother addressing him.

"Hey, how come you haven't been answering my texts?"

Justin sighed, "Sorry, my phone's been fucking up lately."

Jessica's facial expression read unamused. She hadn't done her makeup that day, and she looked tired.

"You never fucking answer me" she said.

Ophelia looked at Montgomery, who had glanced her way at the same time. They rolled their eyes in unison, knowing how angry Jessica got when Justin didn't text her back.

Ophelia understood her anger, but she didn't understand her need for confrontation at school. Ophelia considered fights to be something done indoors, away from prying eyes.

Unfortunately for her, Montgomery had all the confidence in the world. When he was unhappy with something, he'd tell her. He didn't mind making a scene, and he had been doing so all week.

"Calm the hell down" Justin told her, "Can we talk about this later?"

Jessica huffed. Ophelia even saw her nostrils flare. Jessica looked at her, glanced at Montgomery holding on to her, and then back to Ophelia.

"He's on my tape, you know. Barely half way through and he's already asking questions." She spoke with such an attitude, it made Ophelia seem inferior to her, like she needed to apologize for some reason.

"Who?" Montgomery questioned.

Jessica tilted her head as she asked, "Was I fucking talking to you?"

Ophelia's eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open. She was unused to _anyone_ talking like that to Montgomery. Even during their fights, Ophelia was able to keep a calm tone with him. She knew how life was for him at home, and how badly yelling could trigger him.

"Woah!" Justin shouted.

Montgomery's grip on Ophelia's shoulder tightened. She felt him beginning to take a step forward. She placed a hand on his chest, nonverbally telling him to back off.

Montgomery spoke to Justin, "You better check your fucking girl, Foley."

"Or what, Montgomery? You gonna do it for him?" Jessica dared.

Ophelia pleaded with Montgomery, "Lets just go, okay?"

He just ignored her, pushing Ophelia behind him. "You really wanna find out?"

"Fucking touch me and Justin'll put you in the hospital."

Montgomery let out a laugh, and looked over at him slim friend.

Justin was shaking his head. "Jessica. Shut the fuck up."

Ophelia was looking around the hallway, trying to find someone who would step in. She spotted Bryce coming there way. For the first and only time, she was happy to see him.

Bryce came up and patted Justin on the shoulder. "What's going on, brother?"

"Nothing" Jessica told him. She shook her head, storming away.

Montgomery looked like he was almost about to go after her, but Ophelia took his hand in his. She said, "Don't worry about her. She's just upset, don't let it bother you."

He shook his head. "She better get over it quick. What the fuck is her problem?"

"What isn't her fucking problem?" Justin grumbled, shaking Bryce's hand off his shoulder.

"Fucking psycho bitch" Montgomery mumbled.

Justin shook his head, "Hey man, that's my girlfriend."

"And?" he taunted.

Justin scoffed, "And maybe that's how you talk to yours, but it's not how I talk to mine."

Ophelia was irritated immediately. Just because Justin was upset, didn't mean he needed to drag her into the argument.

"Woah, calm down Justin" Bryce told him.

It was so strange to Ophelia that Bryce seemed to be the 'peace keeper' of the group. Whenever one of his boys got into a fight, he would get them out of it. If only he cared as much about the girls as he did the boys...

"Fuck you, Foley." Montgomery looked at Ophelia, and then nodded his head down the hallway. "Let's go."

Ophelia nodded, leaving the other jocks alone. She heard Bryce casually ask Justin, "Are they back together?"

She paused in her step, hesitant until she felt Montgomery's strong arm pushing her forward.

They were not back together. They weren't.

Were they? She didn't want to be. She told herself numerous times that they would never be together again. Yet, here they are, walking the halls together like any other high school couple. She was surprised he hadn't given her his varsity jacket yet. He wore it proudly that day, but she was sure he'd take it off in a heartbeat if he thought someone was trying to flirt with her. It's what he always did.

Why was she with him? Maybe because it felt so normal to her. They had been dating since half way into freshmen year. If she was being honest, she couldn't imagine high school without him. She'd grown so used to him. And him to her.

She knew about his home life. His father was an alcoholic, and extremely abusive. Besides his friends from the baseball team, she was all he had. And she doubted his friends took as much care of him as she did.

His father took no care of him at all. He was such an awful man. He used to constantly cheat on Montgomery's mother, and he never missed a chance to tell Montgomery exactly how useless he thought he was.

Thinking about it, Ophelia realized that she had never been worried about Montgomery cheating. She remembered getting annoyed when he looked at others girls. Such as, Courtney and Sherri. But she was never worried he would actually cheat on her. He was hers, and he never questioned it. He never wanted someone else, and he never seemed to get tired of her. He was loyal. Undoubtedly loyal.

Ophelia felt a sense of pride all of a sudden. Montgomery was an award winning baseball and football player, he was one of the most attractive and popular guys at Liberty High, and he was her boyfriend. All hers. No one else's.

"You need anything from your locker?" Montgomery asked her.

It took her a moment to get her head away from her thoughts. "What? Oh, yeah. I need to grab my English text book. Save me a seat?"

He smiled, "Of course."

Reaching her locker, Ophelia found none other than Tony Padilla waiting for her.

"Hey, Tony..." she began hesitatingly, "What's up?"

Tony just shrugged. "Saw you come in with Montgomery."

She could hear the judgement in his voice.

"Yeah, he gave me a ride."

There was nothing wrong with just a ride, or the fact that she walked in with him. It's not like he could peak inside her head and see what she was thinking. He couldn't possibly know how easily she persuaded herself into loving him again.

"Saw him yelling at Jessica."

"He wasn't yelling" Ophelia quickly defended, "And she was the one threatening him."

"Good for her" Tony said.

Ophelia rolled her eyes. "Did you want something, Tony?"

"Are you back with him?" he said outright.

"No."

Ophelia opened her locker, grabbed her English textbook. She slammed it shut. She took three steps away from Tony before turning around to glare at him.

"What if I was back with him?"

Tony let out a low whistle. "Then that would be a huge mistake. A mistake I'm not willing to let you make."

"Jessica and Justin are still together" she said, "Justin did something far worse to Jessica. But it's fine for them to be together still?"

"It's not fine" he told her plainly, "But Jessica's in denial. You're not. You've accepted this, and you're okay with it, that's the problem."

"This isn't your life, Tony. It's mine. And I think it's better with him in it."

Entering her English classroom, Ophelia made eye contact with Zach, who sat in the third row. She looked away quickly. She took a seat next to Montgomery, who was farther back.

Two seats in front of her, Zach turned around. Ophelia became nervous. She wondered if he figured out she blocked him yet.

"Hey, are you understanding the homework alright?" he asked her. It was obvious he was trying to think of a way to start a conversation with her. After all, she had the higher grade in the class.

"Yeah."

Zach nodded, "Good. But, you know, if you ever need help I'm here."

"Thanks-"

"Bro, she's got me" Montgomery interrupted, "She doesn't need two tutors."

Zach withheld a scoff. "She does if it's you. Seeing as you need a tutor yourself."

Ophelia let out a small laugh, one so quiet it almost sounded like she was just letting out a breath. But Montgomery heard it, and she could tell he was embarrassed.

"Go fuck yourself" he said.

Montgomery casually slid off his varsity jacket, revealing the brown and red flannel beneath it. He held it out to Ophelia. "Here."

She wasn't cold, but she put it on anyway. She saw Zach's confused expression as she did so.

"Ophelia-"

"She doesn't wanna fucking talk to you, Dempsey" Montgomery snapped.

Zach continued anyway.

"Are you two...back together?"

Ophelia looked up, making eye contact with him. All the anger from last night seemed to come back again in that very moment. She felt herself tugging on the sleeves of Montgomery's jacket, brining it all the way over her hands so that her arms disappeared in it. It made her feel more comfortable, and more confident. She glanced at Montgomery, who was waiting for her answer as patiently as Zach was.

"Yes."


	11. Author's Note

First things first I would like the thank the AMAZING Wattpad user myfavboyzr1d for creating the amazing new Loose Change cover. Honestly, I am just so in love with it.

Secondly, I would like to deeply apologize to my readers for the lack of updates this summer. My summer job has been really stressful for me and I'm always so exhausted when I come home :(

I also began rewatching season two, and briefly considered deleting this story after watching Tyler's episode again. But due to where I plan to take this story, I feel like it would be okay for me to continue.

But that is absolutely no excuse for all the long waits I've been putting everyone through. Starting this month I will try my best to upload either once a week or once every other week.

But to make up for it I will try to answer all comments or questions you ask,

And please correct me if I mess up any timelines, if my writing becomes too clique, or if it just begins getting boring.

I will be finishing this story before the year ends! And will be making sequel if you want it!

Sorry again! Feel free to yell at me for making you wait so long!

And thanks again myfavboyzr1d ! You should all go check out her work!


	12. Chapter 10

**_Thank you so much for all your comments and reads! They mean so much to me!_**

 ** _kardashian we will soon learn how Ophelia's parents feel about Montgomery_**

" _Let's do something."_

 _Montgomery looked away from his phone, and to his girlfriend who laid with her head on the opposite end of the couch._

 _"Do something?" He asked, "You told me we couldn't leave until your parents got home."_

 _Ophelia nodded, sitting up on the coach. She scooted next to Montgomery, and tried to take a peek at his phone. He clicked it off. She giggled._

 _"Let's do something here" she specified, with a suspicious smile._

 _Montgomery shrugged, "Wanna makeout?"_

 _She rolled her eyes. "Actually, I went out and bought something for the occasion."_

 _Ophelia got off her coach and went to grab something from her bag._

 _The first thing that jumped to Montgomery's mind was 'condoms'. But he knew there was no way in hell that's what Ophelia had in her bag. He doubted she even knew where to buy them, or what the box looked like._

 _He watched curiously as she pulled something out of her bag. He focused on it. A DVD._

 _"What's that?"_

 _She grinned. "The first Harry Potter movie."_

 _Montgomery grounded. "You've gotta be fucking kidding me."_

 _She took her seat on the coach next to him again, "C'mon, I've never seen them before. Let's do a movie marathon."_

 _"Hell fucking no" he told her, "if Bryce found out I watched that shit I'd never hear the end of it."_

 _Ophelia told him, "Justin watches it. Zach watches it. Marcus has too."_

 _"O-"_

 _"_ Please _" she whined, "this can be our thing. We can watch them all_ together _."_

 _Montgomery shook his head._

 _She scoffed, "Monty. Come on!"_

 _"Fine!" he hollered, "But I'm not buying any of these. There's like fucking seventeen of them."_

 _Ophelia just laughed, and stood up to put the first movie in the DVD player._

It had taken Ophelia almost an entire month to decide she was going to break up with Montgomery. Yet, it had taken Montgomery less than a week to convince her to give him another chance.

Ophelia couldn't help it. It was easy to be mad at him when he wasn't there. But actually being with him? Seeing him? Smelling him? Hearing his voice? She couldn't resist any of it. It was like Ophelia was under his spell. And he knew she was.

Bryce had been surprisingly ecstatic to learn that Montgomery and Ophelia had reunited. He requested the four of them, including him and Rebecca(his current girlfriend), went to go see a movie together. A double date to celebrate.

Ophelia sat next to Montgomery at the Cresmont. Her hand was held tightly in his. She found herself unable to pay attention to the pictures shown on the big screen. She knew Montgomery wasn't paying attention either. Bryce and Rebecca, who sat one row above them, definitely were not.

Ophelia wasn't looking, but she could hear their intense make out session going on behind her.

It made her nervous. Especially since her and Montgomery were sitting so close. His bouncing knee rubbed against her leg.

Ophelia hadn't kissed him since they had gotten back together. She found herself glancing at his lips. His top lip looked soft, but the bottom one looked slightly chapped. Ophelia recalled that during baseball season, his lips would get unmanageable dry. He would bite down on them during his practices and games, and it would cause them to bleed. But Montgomery refused to use chapstick.

He thought that if people saw him putting it on they would think he was 'gay'.

He irritated her so much sometimes with the way he wouldn't take care of his own body. He didn't know how much he worried her. She also noticed the redness along his knuckles that he used to clench her hand. He must have been hitting walls again.

Ophelia stared at his hands, admiring them. She could feel his passion through his tight hold. Her attention was brought back to his face when she saw him turn to look at her out of the corner of her eye.

Looking up, she held eye contact for a moment, before she glanced back at his lips. He glanced at hers as well.

No words were spoken as Montgomery unraveled his hand from hers, and then used it to cup her face. Goosebumps formed as soon as he touched her. They stayed like that for a moment, until Ophelia realized he wouldn't do anything. Montgomery didn't want to kiss her. He wanted her to kiss him.

Montgomery needed to feel the love that she had been depriving him of for the last few weeks. Here, in the dark movie theater, with no one watching, he wasn't afraid to ask for it.

Ophelia felt herself leaning forward. Her lips touched his. Going in for the kiss, she had been planning to give him just a peck on the lips.

That's another thing she didn't do often. PDA.

But as soon as she kissed him, she knew she needed more. His chapped lips didn't bother her anymore. His grip rose to her hair, and he tightened it, pulling her face even closer to his.

Ophelia never suspected her and Montgomery would be one of those couples that just made out in movie theaters. Montgomery often wanted a kiss from her in public, but it would never last longer than ten seconds. But here they were, getting dirty in the back of the Cresmont, knowing full well there were other people in their row, and that plenty of other people probably see them. They were officially 'one of those couples'.

Ophelia wondered why it had taken them so long.

Tony found Clay at his locker. He was listening to his headphones, and he had to grab his arm to get his attention.

Clay was startled. "Jesus, Tony. Why don't you try saying 'hello' next time?"

He brought his headphones down. "What's up?"

"What tape are you on?"

Clay sighed, "I just finished Alex's, okay? I'm going as fast as I can, you don't need to keep-"

"I need to borrow tape ten."

Clay was puzzled. "Borrow? I thought you had copies. Copies that you told me you would release if I didn't finish these fucking tapes."

"I do. It's just-" Tony sighed, "I need it, okay? Today. Now."

Clay sighed. "Fine, whatever. Look, it's at my house I'll bring it tomorrow."

Tony clasped his hands together and bowed his head towards Clay. "Thank you."

"Can you at least tell me who's tape it is?"

Tony shook his head. "Trust me, you'll want to wait on this one."

After the movie, Montgomery drove Ophelia home. He parked in her driveway and turned the car off.

"Today was fun" he told her.

She nodded in agreement. "It was."

"What are you doing tomorrow?"

Ophelia laughed lightly. "I'm going to school."

He shrugged with a wide smile, "Yeah, I️ know. But what about after school? You free?"

"I'm babysitting" she told him.

His smile didn't waiver. "I️ could come over and keep you company."

A chill ran over Ophelia. A part of her felt excited. Montgomery was fun, even her sister thought so. Honor used to love when he came over to help Ophelia babysit her.

But that was before.

Ophelia wasn't sure if she was ready to go back to the way things were. She found it so strange to be doing the exact same thing she was doing before Hannah. It would be like she never existed.

Not to mention Honor knew they broke up. She would no doubt tell Ophelia's parents. They were hardly ever home, but she knew her sister would jump at the chance to call them to gossip.

"I️ don't know, Monty-"

"Look, I️ don't want things to be like this forever" he told her.

She ran a hand through her hair. "Like what?"

"You acting like you're scared to be alone with me."

Ophelia frowned. "I'm alone with you right now."

He scoffed. "You know what I️ mean."

Ophelia pushed the car door open. "I️ don't know what you want me to do, Monty."

Montgomery's smile came back slowly. "Invite me in."

"Excuse me?"

"C'mon" he said, his hand came out to trail down Ophelia's bare arm, "I️ know your parents aren't home, your sister gets home late tonight, let's do something."

Ophelia felt her blood beginning to boil. An unexpected rags built inside her. She ripped her arm away from Montgomery. She grabbed her backpack and hopped out of the car.

"You're a jerk!" She screamed at him, before slamming the door as hard as she could.

She wished it wasn't a Jeep, and that she didn't have to see his confused eyes following her as he crossed the car to get to the front door.

"What the _fuck_?" She heard him say.

She heard him getting out of the car, so she hurried up her porch. But he was faster than her. He was out of the car before she was up the steps. His strong arm grabbed her and forced her to turn around.

"What the fuck was that?" he demanded. He didn't seem angry, just confused and very annoyed.

Ophelia felt her throat burning. For some reason she couldn't control herself. Not this time.

"That's all you _fucking_ want me for isn't it!?" She screamed at him, her face turning red and flustered. "That's all you ever fucking wanted me for!"

Montgomery released her instantly. "O-"

"We're back together for one day, and you want to have sex? Is that what it's been about all along? Is that why you wanted me back so desperately? There are plenty of other girls at school, Montgomery! Go find one of them!"

Montgomery stood still, unmoving.

Ophelia suddenly lunged forward and pushed his chest, and he stumbled back a single step. "Get the fuck out of here!"

Ophelia watched as Montgomery's shoulders slumped. His wide eyes turned into a solem, devastated look. He took a step back, eyes still on her. She was surprised he obeyed her command the first time being asked.

He didn't get in the car. He just pulled something out of his backpack on the backseat.

She knew what movie it was before she even saw the title.

Harry Potter. The last movie. The only one the two of them needed to watch together. He had it in his backpack the whole day, even before they were officially back together. She wondered if he had it in there longer.

Ophelia pictured him bringing it to school one day, only to find her absent. She didn't tell Montgomery she wanted to breakup until three days into her absence. It must of been a surprise each day he found her gone.

Montgomery cleared his throat uncomfortably, "I didn't mean we had to..."he stopped himself, wincing. He was worried whatever he said would just make her more angry. He felt so stupid. He never said the right things.

Ophelia took a breath. "I'm-I'm sorry-"

"You forgave me" he reminded her. He knew it was beyond idiotic to bring _it_ up, especially with her in this mood. But he was becoming angry also. He couldn't live the rest of his life with Ophelia bringing up the same incident over and over.

Montgomery said, "You said that you could barely remember... _that_ anymore. It seems like you fucking remember it. And it seems like you're holding a _fucking_ grudge."

Ophelia shook her head vigorously. "It wasn't that, Monty. That-That never even crossed my mind."

But it had. The incident that had started it all. It had caused the fight, it had been the reason they did what they did to Hannah, and-in her mind-it is what ultimately caused Hannah Baker to kill herself.

The incident had taken place a few weeks before Hannah killed herself, and Ophelia assumed she had gotten over it. She hadn't thought about it her entire absence. But the thought of Montgomery in her room, and the two of them being completely alone, was too much for her to handle.

"I'm sorry, Monty" she breathed.

She turned around, entered her house, and shut the door.

Zach Dempsey stared at the phone is his hand, and wondered what he had done to make Ophelia hate him. He knew she blocked him. He figured it out before school ended. He knew she was back with Montgomery. He hadn't been able to figure that one out.

He laid on his bed, sweating. His ceiling fan was broken, but he felt too upset to bother getting up and turning the house AC on.

Zach wanted to punch himself in the face. He felt like a fucking idiot. Ophelia was ready to get away from Montgomery and move on. But he decided to get shit faced drunk and brag about how he protected her at a party. What the fuck was wrong with him?

Zach ran a hand over his face.

 _Fucking idiot._

He thought about Ophelia's tape, which she claimed was a lie.

Zach knew that Hannah got a lot of important details wrong with his story. He also knew she left a lot of stuff out...

He wondered what parts of Ophelia's tape were true, and what was exaggerated. He hoped to god it was all exaggerated.

Still staring at his phone, he saw a notification pop up. It was for a group chat he was in, but it was only with four players from the baseball team.

( **Base)Balls Deep**?

 **Montgomery De La Cruz: Is anyone still going to the clubhouse?**

Zach was surprised. He thought Montgomery was hanging out with Ophelia all day. And why would he want to go to the clubhouse? Baseball season wasn't even close yet. Before he could say anything, Bryce replied to him.

 **Bryce Walker: No**

Then another.

 **Bryce Walker: I'm going golfing with my dad for the rest of the day**

Zach paused. He typed out ' _Aren't you with Ophelia?'_

He erased it. It sounded too straightforward. He tried again. ' _Don't you already have plans?_ ' Zach shook his head.

Scott Reed, a younger player on the team that also was in their friend group, then replied.

 **Scotty**? ﾟﾏﾼ **: Busy. Sorry.**

Zach typed out ' _Thought you were with Ophelia'_. He reread it and nodded to himself. It was subtle, but to the point. He pressed send.

 **Thought you were with Ophelia.**

Zach bit his lip. He regretted putting a period.

A moment passed.

 **Montgomery De La Cruz: No**

Zach silently smiled to himself. Then another notification came from Montgomery. This one wasn't part of the group chat, it was a private message. Just the two of them.

Zach opened it.

 **Montgomery De La Cruz: I know you're not busy. Meet me at the clubhouse in 10**

His heart sank. What could he want? Is it about Ophelia? Did they break up again? He sure hoped so. But if they did, did Montgomery think it was his fault?

Zach held his breath as he replied.

 **Ok**


	13. Chapter 11

"She's being so fucking confusing" Montgomery complained. He took a swing out of the bottle in front of him. He winced. He had grabbed a random metal water bottle off of the coffee table next to the couch and took a swing, expecting beer. It was something much stronger.

"One minute she's acting normal. She's laughing, smiling, starting conversations. The next she's shutting herself off. Acting like she's fucking depressed. Y'know? Crying and shit. She fucking screamed at me today when I️ wanted to go inside her house with her."

Zach felt his shoulders tense. He tried his best to remain relaxed. He didn't want Montgomery to suspect anything. Zach knew way more than he should, stuff Montgomery would be willing to tear him apart for knowing.

Zach watched Montgomery take another swing of his drink. It was obvious he didn't like the taste, but he kept drinking. Zach wondered why pure alcohol was so desirable among kids his age. It was disgusting.

Montgomery held the drink out, offering it to Zach. "Take some."

Zach, who until now stayed standing by the door, slowly lowered himself onto the couch, which was positioned across from the door in the clubhouse. His hesitation was clear. He didn't know why Montgomery wanted to meet him here. It wasn't even baseball season yet.

He shook his head.

"No, thanks."

Montgomery kept his hand out. "Drink it."

Zach let out a forced laugh. "Really, I'm good. I've got a lot of homework-"

"I'm not fucking asking, Dempsey."

Zach frowned, upset and offended by Montgomery's tone. "I️ don't care if you're asking or not, I'm not fucking drinking it." Zach scoffed, "Are you planning on driving yourself home?"

Montgomery brought the bottle back to him and took another sip, angrily. "Don't you fucking worry about me."

Zach shook his head. He was suddenly less nervous, and more angry at the boy in front of him. Annoyed too. He asked, "Why the fuck did you bring me here, Monty?"

Montgomery shrugged. "We're friends, aren't we? Don't friends hang out?"

"Cut the bullshit" he said, "Is it about Ophelia? You still pissed at me because you think I️ have a thing for her?"

As he said this, Zach looked away from him. A nervous bead of sweat ran down his forehead. He hoped to god it wasn't really that.

Montgomery just laughed, "Zachy, if I️ thought for one minute that you could actually take Ophelia from me, do you think I'd be talking to you right now?"

Zach felt a rush of embarrassment and self-consciousness. Zach was good looking. A lot of girls at school thought so. He was funny, wasn't he? He's made Ophelia laugh before. What made Montgomery think so low of him? He could take Ophelia if he really wanted to, right?

But had he tried to take her? Zach had always felt a romantic pull towards Ophelia, ever since they were little. They grew up in the same community, and their families forced them to be close. But she was always out of his reach. Was it because she was dating Montgomery? No, that didn't start until freshmen year. Was Zach really just below Montgomery in her eyes?

Montgomery finished him off by saying, "You are not her type."

No. There's no way someone would want someone like Montgomery and not him.

Montgomery was so mean. Zach was sweet, his mother raised him to be. Zach wondered if maybe his mother had raised him to be too sweet. Too soft. Montgomery was tough. He spoke how he wanted to anyone he wanted. Zach couldn't even find the courage to call him out for what he knows he did. He couldn't call anybody out.

Zach sat up straighter, squaring his shoulders. "And you think you know what her type is?"

Montgomery clenched his jaw. He said, "Well, I️ am her boyfriend."

Zach let out a laugh, "Like she hasn't tried to change that."

Montgomery's eyes widened slightly, and his grip on the cup tightened. His jaw remained clenched, and he began breathing more deeply. "What the fuck do you know about it?"

"I️ know she didn't want you back."

Montgomery snapped, "Are you trying to tell me you two actually have some kind of connection? Because you don't. She only puts up with you because you're my friend and I️ told her to. Just because you two were in a fuckin' Asian club together-"

"-ACC-"

"-I️ don't give a fuck what it's called. I'm the one that's always been there for her. She knows that. This whole 'breakup' thing was just one last way for Hannah fucking Baker to fuck up my life. But she's over it now...or she's getting over it."

Zach shook his head. "You're trying to say Hannah killed herself just to mess with you? How fucking conceded are you? And guess what, asshole? Me and O were friends long before your dumbass met her. Actually, if it wasn't for me, she never wouldn't given your fucked-up self the time of day."

"Fuck you, Dempsey! You-You don't know the shit I've gone through for Ophelia" Montgomery's words began slurring as he took another quick drink of alcohol.

Zach bit his tongue. He knew exactly what he's done for Ophelia...

Instead, he shook his head. "It doesn't matter who you blame, Monty. You're the one who drives her away." He spat his words harshly.

Montgomery stayed quiet. He looked down at the bottle in his hand, and in a much softer voice he said, "I️ know."

Zach was always surprised at how easily Montgomery was able to make someone go from being angry at him, to feeling sorry for him. He was so good at being a bully, and playing a victim. He wondered how many times Ophelia fell for that.

Montgomery continued, "I️ know what people think when they see us together, Zach. They think ' _what the fuck is she doing with someone like him?_ ' She's so smart and beautiful...and I'm just some fuckup who's own parents don't even love him."

Zach winced. He knew how Montgomery's life was at home, even though he rarely talked about it. He would often see the bruises left by his father, whether in the locker room, or if they were left plainly on his face. Zach had never met Montgomery's parents, but he's heard stories from those who did.

Apparently, last summer Montgomery's dad showed up to a small get-together down by the lake to drag Montgomery home. The party ended immediately after he left. No one could recover from mood he left behind. And no one would go into detail about what happened. All that was clear was that Montgomery got hit in front people. And Montgomery was not kind to those people the next time he saw them.

Zach felt he had to console his friend. "C'mon, no one think that."

Montgomery laughed, "You do. I️ can tell. Alex does, Marcus does, hell, even Justin fucking Foley thinks I'm too fucked up for her. Like he deserves Jessica."

Zach was watching him carefully. There was an anger rooted deep in his mind, and it was starting to leak out. It was showing clearly in his eyes.

"I've heard what that dumb bitch tells her. It's exactly what Ophelia's old friends used to say. ' _Stay away from, Montgomery. He's trouble'"_ Montgomery spoke in a higher pitch when mocking the girl. "Oh, and my favorite, ' _you deserve better'!_ "

"All girls say that, Monty. Don't take it personally" Zach told him, "Girls don't like it when their friends get boyfriends. It means they'll spend less time with them."

Montgomery nodded. He pointed at Zach, agreeing, "That's exactly what I️ told her. And she listened. She used to listen to me over them. But that Hannah Baker, she's the one that fucking ruined everything. She decides to kill herself and now my Ophelia thinks it was all her fault just because we-"

Montgomery stopped himself, and ran a hand through his hair. He laughed again, "She thinks we bullied her."

Zach began feeling uneasy, just thinking about what he heard on those tapes. "You didn't?"

"No!" he said defensively, "Hannah Baker was a fucking liar and I'm glad she's fucking dead!"

Zach was taken aback by Montgomery's harsh words. He knew Montgomery didn't care about Hannah, but to say something so cruel out loud...

Montgomery noticed Zach's reaction. "You know what I️ mean."

Zach pressed, "What did she lie about, Monty?"

Montgomery rolled his eyes, "You don't remember? All that shit about me and Ophelia? After the last football game of the season?"

Zach nodded, "I️ remember..."

He nodded, a little more nervous this time. "Exactly. A fucking liar."

Zach muttered something to himself. Montgomery looked at him. "What?"

Zach cleared his throat. He looked Montgomery in the eyes and spat, "I️ know what you did."

A silence fell on the room.

Zach could feel the blood pumping in his veins. He heard Montgomery's heart beating from across the room. Loudly. Nervously.

Montgomery's mouth fell open, and some of the color drained from his face. "W-What do you mean? What did I️ do?" He asked in fake innocence.

Zach stood up suddenly. He ignored Montgomery's questions and just repeated in anger, "I️ know what you fucking did."

He then left the clubhouse, left the school, and left Montgomery completely alone.

"Honor, are you ready yet?"

Ophelia poked her head into her younger sister's room.

Honor, who was fully dressed and now brushing through her short black hair replied, "Almost. Did you make me a sandwich?"

Ophelia asked, "Can you just buy lunch today? I️ want to leave early."

Honor set down her brush, and picked up the backpack on her bed. Throwing it on she asked, "Montgomery isn't picking us up today?"

Ophelia hesitated, opening and closing her mouths total of three times. She fidgeted with the strap of her own book bag.

Honor continued, "I️ saw him outside yesterday. I️ heard you two arguing."

"We weren't arguing" Ophelia shot out quickly, "I️ just got a little upset, that's all. It was my own fault."

Ophelia eyed her sister, whose innocent face showed no emotion whatsoever.

Ophelia said, "Did you call Mom last night?"

"No."

She sighed, her shoulders dropping in relief.

Honor continued, "She called me."

"...What did she say?"

"May is coming over tomorrow after school. She wanted to make sure you'll be home to babysit."

"Of course" Ophelia told her, straightening her posture. "Did you...mention Montgomery at all?"

"Of course" her sister told her casually.

Ophelia felt angry, and almost betrayed. She had no right blabbing her business to her mother every time she called. But then again, even if Ophelia was going to tell her mom, when would she have the time? He mother is on the phone almost every day for hours with Honor, but Ophelia is lucky if she gets a call once every three days. And that call is usually to scold her about something Honor mentioned, or to make sure she was taking care of Honor.

Ophelia knew about her parent's obvious bias for her younger sister, and normally it didn't bother her. After all, Ophelia had Montgomery, and he loved her more than all the world combined. But without him there Ophelia felt so...useless.

"What did you say?" She demanded, "We-We weren't even doing anything. He just dropped me off."

Ophelia hated that she needed to justify her actions to her younger sister. She felt like she was the one in charge.

"Just that I️ saw him" Honor explained, "I️ didn't mention that you were fighting, if that's what you were wondering."

"We weren't-" Ophelia stopped herself, "Whatever. Honor go get in the car."

"Don't be mad" Honor tried, "She asked if you had any friends over, and I️ told her he stayed outside. You know she worries about you."

"Yeah" Ophelia muttered, following behind her sister down the stairs and put the door, "Sure she does."

"I️ have something for you" Tony announced.

Ophelia was seated in her first period class, waiting for Montgomery to show up. She wondered if he would be mad at her. Not only had she completely blown things out of proportion the night before, but this morning she had driven herself to school without mentioning it to him. The bell would ring in five minutes. If he was late, it would be her fault.

"Do you want to meet me by my locker? At lunch or after school?" Tony asked her.

Ophelia bit her lip. "I'm busy."

Tony rolled his eyes. "You can't spare five minutes?"

Ophelia looked away from him and back at the door, waiting for Montgomery to walk in. Tony knew they went out the other day. That's what made this so important.

Tony sighed, trying again. "Hey, uh, my mom wants to know if you'll come over for dinner sometime. You haven't really been over in a while."

She hadn't. Not since last Thanksgiving, when her parents took her to Tony's house to eat dinner and to watch the football game. Her father and Tony's father were friends. Just like her mother and Zach's mother were friends.

In retrospect, she should be best friends with both of them. After all, that's what her parents wanted. And she was...for a while.

Ophelia grew apart from both of them during highschool, the official reason unknown to her. She tried to keep their friendships alive. She joined ACC with Zach, and she started making mixtapes for Tony. But friendships fade away. And it wasn't her fault, not in her mind.

The two boys hadn't made a huge effort to stay in touch either. If someone asked if she knew Tony well, she'd say 'yes, of course'. The same went for Zach Dempsey. But if anyone asked if she was friends with them, her current answer would be, 'no, not really'.

But she didn't hate them.

Ophelia glanced at Tony, "Tell your mom I️ said 'hello'."

Tony said, "I'm sure she'd appreciate you actually saying 'hello' in person."

Ophelia began to reply, but stopped immediately as she watched her tall man walk through the door.

Montgomery was wearing a plain brown shirt with a red flannel over it. The sleeves were rolled up and clung to his arms, showing off his muscles to everyone looking. To Ophelia, his large muscles were not something she wanted him showing off everyday. Not just because it caused other girls to look his way, but because they made him seem angry all the time. Well, more angry than usual.

"Monty!" She called. She waved at him, smiling. He kept a straight face.

Walking through the classroom, he came and took his normal seat next to her. He spared a glance at Tony.

"Fuck off" he told him, casually.

Tony stood up straight, puffing out his chest a little. "Excuse me-"

"Tony, you should go before the bell rings" Ophelia said quickly, studying her boyfriend.

She could tell he was in a bad mood, but his face didn't show why. Was he mad at her? She figured he'd be upset about the other day, but this seemed a little too dramatic to be about that.

"Fine" Tony muttered, "See you later, O."

Tony stalked out of the classroom, and Ophelia turned back to Montgomery. He was staring right at her. "Why are you meeting him later?"

She said, "I'm not. He just...I️ don't know, something about his mom."

Montgomery nodded. "Hm."

Ophelia hesitated. "Are you mad? At me?"

He scoffed, letting out a small laugh. "Mad at you? Why, Ophelia? Did you do something I️ should be mad about?"

She bit her lip. He was definitely mad. Partly at her, she could tell by the way he was facing forward instead of towards her. Also because he was saying her full name, instead of calling her 'O'. But there was something else.

She noticed the seat in front of her was empty. Zach's seat. Maybe he was upset with him.

She pointed to it, hoping to cheer him up a bit by saying, "Look, Zach's not here."

Montgomery nodded to the front of the classroom. "Yeah, he is." Ophelia looked to the front row, and sure enough, there sat Zach Dempsey. She wondered why he sat all the way up there. She guessed he was avoiding her. She did block his number in a state of fury. But she was the one that was supposed to be angry. She was the one that was supposed to be avoiding him.

Montgomery added, "Glad to know you were looking for him."

By his disdainful voice, Ophelia could tell Zach was the one Montgomery was mad at.

She realized Zach probably wasn't avoiding her, he was avoiding Montgomery. For some reason, that made her feel better.

Ophelia chose to ignore his comment, so he spoke up again. "We're not eating with the guys today."

She didn't expect her social boyfriend to say that. "Why?"

"We're just not" he snapped.

Ophelia just nodded, and stayed quiet the rest of the period. She wanted to avoid one of his temper tantrums as best she could.

"Did you and Zach use to be really good friends?" Montgomery asked. He was already on his second sandwich, and lunch had only started fifteen minutes ago.

Ophelia shook her head, picking the vegetables off the piece of pizza in front of her. The air was cool outside, but not cold. She had her jacket tied around her waste, and her hair in a ponytail while she ate.

"We were close in elementary school. But we were never really best friends."

Montgomery nodded, eyes away from her. "Do you two talk often?"

Ophelia sighed. "Monty, what is this about? You know there's nothing going on with me and Zach-"

"I'm not fucking jealous!" Montgomery yelled.

Ophelia jumped, and leaned her head away from him. She was surprised by his sudden furious tone.

"Do you guys fucking talk or not?" He repeated, angrily this time.

Montgomery was in a mood. Worse than normal. About once or twice a month, he would get extremely upset at the world. She often joked about him being on a 'cycle'.

Happy.

Happy.

Upset.

Angry.

Happy.

The cycle happened at least two times a month.

The cycle mostly revolves around his father's mood, or whether or not his sport's team was doing good. Montgomery was very irrational when upset. She hated being around him at this time. He would snap at her, and be rude to his friends. She would have to apologize for him, embarrassingly.

Ophelia assumed since they had just gotten back together that Montgomery would be on his best behavior. She assumed she wouldn't have to deal with one of his cycles for at least a month. She was wrong.

"No" she told him, "Only sometimes in class. And you're there most of the time."

Montgomery was done with his sandwich now. He took the brown paper bag his lunch was wrapped in, and crumpled it up in one fist. He squeezed onto the paper tightly.

"You've been talking to someone."

Montgomery spoke in a low voice, but his words caried ominous volume. He spoke slowly, but his words were fast. Almost like he was hissing.

Ophelia tried to ask, "What happened, Monty?"

Montgomery took a quick look around. He looked back at the paper bag in his hand. He was still squeezing it. His knuckles still white from the pressure.

"Fucking Dempsey told me he knew what I️ fucking did."

Ophelia tensed. Her heart beat stopped, and then quickened. She swallowed dry air.

Montgomery shouted, "How the fuck does he know, Ophelia?"

She shushed him loudly. "You want the whole school to hear you?"

"What the fuck did you do?" he accused.

"Nothing!" She defended herself. "Montgomery, I️ did not tell anyone what happened. I️'d never tell a soul, you know that."

"Someone fucking knows!" he snapped, "And someone fucking told Dempsey."

Ophelia struggled for an answer. One that didn't include the entire incident being told to twelve other people. "Zach was there that night, maybe he saw you with Hannah and-"

"No, you fucking dumbass" Montgomery insulted cruelty, "I'm not talking about what we did to Baker, she's fucking dead. No one can prove that shit. I'm talking about what happened with you."

Ophelia froze. She thought over all the things she heard about herself on the tapes. All her deep, dark secrets that were exposed. She wondered which one Zach had been thinking of when confronting Montgomery.

"Zach...told you...-"

"He knows what happened" Montgomery continued for her, "How the fuck does he know?"

Ophelia looked over to see the jock table across the court yard. Zach sat next to Justin, holding a basketball and laughing at whatever Bryce said to him. As if his actions hadn't just ruined her day. Possibly her life.

"I️ never told anyone-"

"You told Hannah."

And Hannah told everyone else. But Montgomery could never know that.

Ophelia said, "Hey, come over later. We can talk about it at my house."

"Thought you didn't want me coming in your house."

She sighed, and began reciting the words she had rehearsed the day before. "I'm sorry, Monty. I️ just needed time to get used to everything again. Please come over."

He looked hesitant. She placed a hand on top of his. She said, "Please."

He calmed down, his face much more relaxed. "Okay..."

Montgomery pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a deep sigh. "I️ didn't mean to yell at you..."

"It's okay" she told him, "I'm angry too. You don't even know how badly I️ want all this to just...go away."

"She's fucking dead" he spat, "How much more trouble could she cause?"

You have no idea...

Ophelia heard a small clicking sound. She turned her head, and caught sight of Tyler. He was only three tables over, taking photos of her again. She became angry. Did he have no sense of privacy at all?

A few more photos were taken, and a few more clicks were heard. This time Montgomery heard it too. He whipped around, locking eyes on the boy.

Montgomery slapped the paper bag that was in his hand on the table. He used so much strength that it now laid crushed and flat. He was on his feet in an instant.

"I️ thought I️ told you to fuck off, you fucking pervert!" Montgomery screamed.

He marched towards the boy, suddenly very excited to have someone to take his anger out on.

Ophelia was quick to get up after him.

"Monty, no!" She commanded.

He ignored her. "I️ told you to leave us the fuck alone!" As he said this, he reached Tyler. He grabbed the sides of his jacket, brought him up out of his seat, and then shoved the boy onto the ground.

"Fuck!" Tyler yelled as his elbow hit the cemented ground. "Get off me, you fucking psycho!"

Ophelia hurried over and grabbed Montgomery's arm. "Stop it!"

Tyler shielded his camera with his arm, and Montgomery brought his leg back and kicked him in the shoulder.

"Fucking help me!" Tyler screamed as people began to stop to watch.

Ophelia gripped Montgomery harder, this time with both hands, and used all her strength to yank him backwards. All he did was stumble back a step, but it was enough to cause him to look at her.

"Stop!" She hissed, "We're going inside! Now!"

Montgomery pulled his arm away from her, freeing himself. He looked down at Tyler.

"Take one more fucking picture of my girlfriend and I'll crack your fucking skull open" he threatened. Montgomery spit on the boy. "Let's go, O."

This time, Montgomery let her take his arm, and allowed her to drag him inside the building before any teachers showed up.

She risked a glance across the courtyard, over to Montgomery's friends table. Most of them watched in interest, laughing.

Except for Zach.

He watched her tensely. She saw him shake his head at her. It almost looked like a warning.

 _Don't do it, Ophelia._

 _Don't go in there with him._

 _Don't trust him again._

 _Don't fall for it._

 _Don't do this to yourself._

Ophelia, of course, didn't listen. 

A/N: This chapter didn't really have a lot of Ophelia/Zach scenes in it but I'll make sure to add them next chapter! Let me know what you guys think of it!


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